Snowed In
by clp66
Summary: A winter storm has arrived in Princeton trapping Susan alone at home with House, David and Phillip trying to get home, and the team stuck at the hospital with a patient with no means of communicating with House.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: This story is timed between "Nobody's Fault" and "Chase". It's a quieter family moment between brother and sister. House and Susan once again learn and grow from each other and a special bond develops between the men in Susan's life. Not so much angst in this story, so I hope you'll still like it. I know that I usually post the entire story in one sitting, but I'm doing this during work breaks so I don't know if I'll get it up all today or not._

_Nobody has really asked if I will continue to write after the show ends, but I thought I would take a moment to answer the question anyway. It all depends on what happens in cannon. I know for a fact that there will be at least one more story regardless of what happens in the actual show. If they decide to terminate House's existence, then it will be hard for Susan's story to continue. If they allow him to live, then her story can go on in its own universe._

_For now, please enjoy and if you would leave a review, I'd be most appreciative._

_clp66_

**Snowed In**

**Chapter One:**

Susan leaned back in her chair and rubbed her eyes. She's been staring at the computer monitor for several hours working on the monthly productivity report for the various lab departments. The census of the hospital had gone up over the winter due to the flu season which was particularly hard on the elderly. As a result, the number of tests requested had gone through the roof. Microbiology had been hit the hardest which was understandable given that pneumonia was the most common secondary infection to the flu. Chemistry had also seen its share of specimen volume increase. The only department that didn't seem adversely affected by the number of patients was the histology department. Their time would come though; each spring the hospital ran a "Breast Cancer Awareness" campaign which resulted in a larger number of biopsies as women came in for free mammograms. A similar campaign for prostate cancer was run in the fall. In those months, histology was inundated with biopsy material which generally meant lots of overtime for the employees. She stretched and as she relaxed, she placed her hand on her now poochy belly. She was five months along and doing well. As least as well as a nearly 47 year old hypertensive pregnant woman can do. Her OB was pleased with her progress and her brother was watching her like a hawk, although discreetly enough that only she was aware of his attention. The baby was healthy and so far there had been no signs of congenital defects. The amniocentesis had come back clean and Susan had framed the chromosome map of her son and placed it next to the family photo they had taken while Laura was home over the Christmas holiday. She'd given a copy of the photo to Greg, but of course he didn't display it on his desk. He'd grunted when she gave it to him and tossed it in a drawer without giving it another look. She smiled to herself at the memory of seeing him looking at it out of the corner of her eye as she passed by his office a couple of hours later. _If anybody had a clue_, she thought to herself. She shook her head with a small laugh to herself.

She decided she'd had enough of sitting at her desk for a while, so she got up and walked out to the lab. Everybody was busy. The techs were each at their stations; some aliquoting and diluting the specimens for the various tests. Others were entering specimen information into the computer system, and a few more were adding reagents and supplies to their analyzers. Jason had his head buried in his instrument mumbling obscenities as he pulled the sample probe out of a specimen tube. Susan walked over, "You know if you take the stopper off of the tube before you started the instrument, that wouldn't happen," Susan teased.

Jason glared at her, "This is the third sample probe I've ruined this week."

"Guess it's a good thing we have plenty of spares and they don't cost me anything extra," Susan said. She'd worked out a deal with the manufacturer during their last service agreement update to provide 26 sample and reagent probes for this particular instrument. She knew they wouldn't need to replace them that often, but she was bound and determined to get as much for her money as possible with each contract renewal.

"Now I have to re-align the entire instrument," Jason complained.

"Consider that your punishment for being in such a hurry," Susan said. "All this has done is slow you down even more than if you'd taken the time to do it right to begin with."

"I know, I just get so rattled every time House calls yelling about his results, I end up doing stupid things."

"Dealing with cantankerous doctors is part of your job, learn to manage them and your life will be much less complicated," Susan advised.

"Who are you calling cantankerous?" House said from behind her.

Susan turned to look at him; it always amazed her how he was able to sneak up on people even with his cane. "Oh, not you Dr. House, I would never…." She gushed in a teasing manner.

House rolled his eyes, "Where are my results?" he barked at Jason.

"My sample probe…..," Jason started.

"I don't want to hear your excuses, I want my results," House interrupted.

"You'll have them in a half an hour," Susan said.

House glanced at her and then turned and walked out of the lab, the techs giving him a wide berth as he made his way across the room. Susan turned back to Jason who was visibly shaken by the encounter. "When you don't have the answers they need, tell them something. It usually shuts them up. Now, hurry and get that alignment done so you can finish the last test on his specimen and then send him the results electronically and to his phone." Susan left Jason to do his work and poked her head in micro and histology for a moment before she headed to the cafeteria for lunch.

MDMDMDMDMD

Wilson came up beside Susan in the line, "How are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Susan answered. "You?"

"Also fine," he said. "Mind some company for lunch?"

"Not at all," Susan said as she pulled money out of her pocket to pay for her meal. Transaction completed, she moved off to find an open table. Wilson followed not far behind. "How's Chase?" she asked when they sat down.

"He's recovering, but its slow going," Wilson said. "Did you know House apologized to him?"

"Yeah, the PT overheard their conversation and now it's all over the hospital. That's huge for him; at least to apologize verbally," Susan said. "Outward expression is not his modus operandi."

Wilson nodded his head in acknowledgement. House's methods were reckless and it wasn't uncommon for things to be a little crazy. He had even put himself in danger on several occasions to get the answers he needed, but this was the first time his methods caused harm to a member of his staff. It was natural for him to feel responsible for Chase's injury and this, Wilson thought, was a good thing. It showed that deep down House really did care despite his outward appearance. Susan smiled to herself, "What are you thinking about?" Wilson asked when he saw the smirk.

"His modus operandi," Susan said. Wilson waited for her to continue, "His way of showing he cares. Every day he drops by my office or the lab and growls about something. He really doesn't care about whatever he's growling about, he's just down there to make sure I'm ok. I just laugh at him when he growls and my techs think I'm insane. They're convinced he's the devil incarnate."

"He doesn't do anything to change their opinion either," Wilson offered.

"No reason to; a little fear goes a long way," House said having heard the last part of their conversation as he came up to their table. He motioned for Susan to shift over. He sat next to her, stealing half of her sandwich and downing half of it in one bite.

"You're stealing food from a pregnant woman," Wilson said incredulously.

"Why does that surprise you?" House asked with his mouth still full while reaching for some of Wilson's fries. He swallowed, "She wasn't going to eat it anyway." House handed a file to Susan that he'd been carrying, "We've got a case; I want you on it."

Susan opened the file and started perusing through the admission pages and the laboratory results from the previous hospital, "I'll send Jason up when I get back to the lab."

"I said I want you on it. I don't want your lackey, I want you," he re-iterated.

"Jason is not a lackey, he's a bright kid…"

"Who practically pisses his pants every time I interact with him," House said.

Susan looked at him with some annoyance, "He wouldn't if you'd be a little less abrasive."

House softened his features and lowered his voice as he looked her in the eye, "I _need_ you on this case, Susan. Chase is out of commission, Park and Adams are still too new to working with me and Taub is well… Taub."

Susan nodded, "Okay, but I will be using this case as training material for Jason." House nodded, got up from the table and started walking away, "Hey." House turned back, "Did you get the results you were looking for?"

"What results?" he asked.

"The ones you were barking at Jason about earlier today," Susan explained.

House shrugged. "Don't know. Don't care; clinic patient. I already diagnosed and sent her away," he said and started off. "Be in the conference room in 10 minutes," he said as he walked away.

Wilson starred at his back as House walked off shaking his head.

"I told you," Susan said grinning. "He doesn't care; he's just using it as an excuse to check up on me." Susan put the half sandwich she was eating down on the plate, "I'm full. I guess I'll head to the conference room," she paused, picking up the case file, "after a pit stop. Later," she said as she got up and headed toward the rest room.

Wilson finished his plate alone, cleared the table and then left the cafeteria.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:**

Susan walked into the conference room and took her place at the end of the table, "You're late," House said.

"You can't deny a pregnant woman a bathroom break," Susan retorted.

"You're pregnant?" Taub asked. The rest of the team stared at him. "What?" he asked. "Nobody's said anything and it doesn't show."

"I am seriously doubting your diagnostic skills right now," House said.

"I didn't announce it because it would show itself in time, and I didn't want my people making a big deal and losing focus," she said standing up. She pressed her shirt closer to her body so he could see the bulge, "I'm not just gaining weight," she explained as she sat back down. Susan hadn't shifted to maternity clothes as her shirts were loose enough that she could just wear them un-tucked for the moment and so far she'd been able to shift buttons to loosen her pants some. It wouldn't be long however until she needed something else. Laura was coming home for the weekend and they planned on going shopping.

"Congratulations," Dr. Adam's said. "Do you know what it is?"

"It's a _baby_," House said impatiently. "Can we shift our attention to the patient now?" He moved to the white board and started listing the symptoms.

Susan opened her file and went past the first two pages that she had read in the cafeteria and turned to the third, "Oh wow," she said with a gasp when she saw the photo of the hand of the patient.

House turned from writing symptoms to glance over at Susan. Seeing she wasn't turning green, he asked, "Thoughts?"

"Fiddle back?" she offered.

"This is New Jersey, not Texas or Oklahoma," Taub said. "We don't have fiddle backs."

"Doesn't mean it isn't a spider bite, go to the house and check it out," House said.

"I think we should check for MRSA as well," Adams said.

House nodded and the team got up for their various jobs. Susan pulled her phone out of her pocket and called the lab. When she finished, she hung up and walked into House's office, "Enjoying your new freedom?" she asked.

House looked up from his laptop at her, "Aren't you supposed to be with Adams?"

"I sent Jason to the patient's room to collect the specimens from Adams; just in case it is MRSA," Susan said.

"It's not," House said.

"I know, but still," Susan said.

House nodded.

"So, I was wondering what you were doing for dinner?"

"Haven't decided."

"Why don't you come by?" Susan asked.

"Not into veggie meals," House said.

"No 'veggie' meal tonight," Susan said. "I have Lasagna ready to put in the oven as soon as I get home."

"Maybe," House said. "No promises."

Susan smiled, "It'll be ready at 7." She left his office and headed to her old lab. Jason would be there shortly with the biopsy material and she needed to make sure he processed everything correctly for culture and histology.

MDMDMDMDMD

"So what else could it be?" Susan asked Jason.

"Doesn't matter; Dr. Adams said to test it for MRSA. So I'm going to set it up for that," Jason said.

"Wrong," Susan said. "Dr. Adams isn't in charge, Dr. House is and Dr. House wants to see that you can think and can take initiative on your ideas. You're not a physician, but you have a mind and as a lab tech, I know you've seen enough to associate some outcomes with positive tests. Now what else could it be?" Jason rattled off several other potential bacteria. "Good, so we culture for those as well. Set up blood, chocolate and agar plates and get them in the incubator. Go ahead and set up for fungal as well," Susan said, "then we'll start on the histology." Susan knew she would have to start from scratch on the histology with Jason since his training didn't include processing and staining tissues. She decided to split the sample and process half as frozen sections and the other half as fixed tissue. This way House and the team would have some answers earlier.

"But what if I end up running tests that ends up wasting the specimen?" Jason asked.

"You always keep a reserve, just in case he wants to run something else – and worst case, you go back to the patient and get another sample," Susan explained. "You're going to end up running some unnecessary tests, but every piece of information you give him will steer him in one direction or another. I've seen him completely shift gears to another train of thought because of tests I did without a direct order. There are regulations about running tests without orders and so Dr. House and I have set up a system that allows me to do just that. You don't have the experience behind you to make those kinds of decisions, so what I want you to do until he feels confident in your thought process is when you think of something else, contact him and ask him if he would like you to run a specific test. When he asks why, tell him what you think. You'll be wrong a lot more than you are right, but you'll hit it from time to time and while he won't directly thank you, he'll come to respect your thought process."

"But we didn't ask him about the other bacterial tests?" Jason countered.

"No, because I made that decision and like I said we have a process in place. Next time, call him and ask him if he would like you to set up additional plates in case something else should grow. Chances are, he'll agree and want you to do that on a regular basis as standard protocol for diagnostics."

"What about the other doctors?" he asked.

"No, the other doctors in this hospital, except maybe Dr. Wilson, would rather you just do what they say and not offer any suggestions. If you see other tests that make sense to run for any other physician, come to me and I'll talk to them," Susan explained. "There are a lot of sensitive egos around here that have to be handled very carefully."

Jason was finished with the plating and so Susan started him down the path of histology. It wasn't long before the afternoon had whittled away and Jason's shift was over. Foreman had sent out instruction to keep overtime to a minimum and since Jason was hourly, she dismissed him to go home. She finished staining the frozen histology sections, took photos of the pertinent areas and sent them to House. Having completed her work for the day, she went to her office to gather her things after one last walk around through the lab to say goodnight to her techs.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three:**

Susan put the lasagna in the oven and straightened up the kitchen and living areas of the house. It was quiet and as much as Susan loved David and Phillip, it was nice to have some solitude now and again. She walked in the guest bedroom which was to be in nursery in a few months. She and David had picked out the crib and accessories, but everything was still in boxes and needed assembly. Part of her wanted to get it put together, but the other part was afraid. She was nearly 47 and even though everything was going well, a lot could still happen. The thought of having her nursery together and then to have to face that if she lost the baby was overwhelming. David was after her to get everything set up, but she kept putting him off telling him that they had plenty of time, so there was no need to rush. He was so excited about the baby and was constantly rattling off potential names. Every night he fell asleep spooned behind with his arm around her and his hand resting protectively over her abdomen. She kept her fears to herself and took each day as it came. She told herself that she would put the room together at 30 weeks if she could put David off that long. By that time, the baby had a very strong chance survive outside the womb if anything happened and she would feel more confident to put room together.

Susan glanced at the clock, it was only six. If Greg was coming, he still had an hour or so before he would be over. She decided to relax her thoughts with a little music and headed over to the piano. As she sat down and lifted the lid, she thought of Laura and wondered what she was up to at the moment. She missed her so much and as she progressed in school, it was harder for her to get away for an occasional weekend. Susan was really looking forward to Friday. As long as the weather held, she would be home late Friday evening and they would have all day Saturday to be together. Susan sat staring at the keys for a while and when the song came to her she started to play. It was an old hymn that came to mind that she hadn't heard for some time. She played the music and when it ended, she shifted to another. She played one standard after another in an easy melody getting lost in the music when she was startled by the doorbell. She got up and answered the door and smiled when she saw Greg standing there, "You've been holding out on me," he said.

"What?" she asked as she let him in.

"I've never heard you play before," he said.

"I'm not that good," she said walking over to the piano to close the lid.

He gave her a hard stare, but didn't comment. Self-depreciation was natural to Susan and House attributed most of that to her first husband. He'd seen a remarkable difference in her when he returned from prison which he attributed mostly to her second husband, but he didn't seem to be around at the moment. Obviously when he wasn't around, she reverted to old habits. "Where is everybody?" he asked glancing around the room.

"David and Phillip are out of town," she said.

"And you're not," House replied.

"No," Susan said with a smile, "girls aren't allowed."

"A little father/son bonding time before the new rug-rat comes around?"

"Something like that," Susan said. "They're at a Royal Rangers conference."

"A what?" House asked.

"Royal Rangers," Susan said explaining further. "It's similar to Boy Scouts, but it's associated with our denomination, so the focus is a little different. They do all the things that boy scouts do: camping, hiking, survival skills, earn badges, etc. This week has been a big gathering in Springfield, Missouri where the boys are competing in all kinds of winter events. So they are out having a good time and I get to enjoy a little solitude for a few days."

"And so you invited me over," House said, "so much for solitude."

Susan smiled, "I've had two days alone and thought that company would be nice; _and_ since he is now a free man, I bribed my brother with food."

"Food works," House said and started toward the kitchen to investigate. "Unitarian boy scouts, who'd have thought," he said as he opened the oven door to look at dinner.

"Not Unitarian," Susan said. "I changed denominations when I left home to get my undergraduate degree. As nosy as you are, I'm surprised you don't know my denomination."

"Don't know your middle name either," House said. "And since I care nothing about religion, what flavor of religious nut you are makes no difference to me."

The phone rang and Susan went back to the living room to answer it, already knowing who was on the line, "Hey," she said when she answered it. "Yes, I'm fine." She listened for a moment, "Actually, I'm not alone tonight; I invited Greg for dinner." Another pause and she took the phone away from her face, "Greg?" House poked his head out of the kitchen, "David wants to talk to you."

House came back in the living room and took the phone from Susan, "House," he said when he had the phone to his ear. Susan left him to his conversation and went into the kitchen to check on dinner. She had just pulled the lasagna out of the oven and was buttering a French roll for garlic bread when House walked in, "Your hubby's a worry wart," he said.

"Wouldn't you be?" Susan asked. "If you were in his shoes?"

House shrugged, "Apparently there is a front heading this direction."

"Well, it is February; fronts happen," Susan said. "I haven't paid any attention to the weather." Susan put the bread in the oven and went into the living room and turned on the local weather channel.

"…expected to drop at least three feet of snow in the Princeton area overnight…." The weatherman droned on and Susan sighed. Susan picked up the phone to call her daughter and tell her to stay at school until the weather cleared.

"Yeah, honey I was too, I just think it's better if you stay there for now. Maybe next weekend the roads will be clear enough." She paused, "I love you too." Susan hung up the phone and went back into the kitchen with an obvious air of disappointment. Once in the kitchen, she pulled the bread out of the oven and set the table. "Soup's on!" she hollered into the living room where House was still watching the weather. He pulled out his cell phone and called his team to see who was there with the patient and to get an update on his condition. He hung up the phone and went to the kitchen to find Susan dishing out the lasagna. His mouth started watering from the aroma as he sat down at the table. Susan sat quietly with her eyes closed for a moment and because it was Susan, House waited for her to finish before taking his first bite. "Careful it's hot," Susan said just as House put a large bite in his mouth.

House's eyes went wide and he quickly reached for his drink. He swallowed and then drank half of his water. When he pulled the glass away from his face, his eyes were watery, "You could have said something a little quicker." He took another drink and put his glass down.

Susan got up and took his glass over to the refrigerator and refilled his glass with ice and water, "Personally, I would think someone as smart as you would know that when food comes out of the oven, it tends to be rather warm." She handed him his glass and sat down. "Dorkwad," she said.

House cut off much smaller piece and waited for it to cool a bit before putting it in his mouth. He swallowed and said, "I'd tell you if it was any good or not, but I don't have any taste buds left."

"Don't concern yourself, I know it's good," she retorted.

"Pride is one of the deadly sins, you know," House said.

"It's not pride, when it's the truth," Susan said with a grin and a twinkle in her eye showing her demeanor having lifted a bit.

Satisfied with her mood shift, House changed the subject, "It's not a spider bite."

"It was just a guess," Susan nodded, "Next theory?"

"I'm not sure yet," House said, "I had the team start him on sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim."

"Cellulitis? Seriously? I can't believe you even went there," Susan said.

"I had to start somewhere; even a lame diagnosis will start eliminating the possibilities."

"The cultures won't be ready before tomorrow," Susan said. "I had Jason plate the specimen in several media types and in both aerobic and anaerobic environments for bacterial and we started a fungal culture as well."

"Good," House replied as he took another mouthful. He swallowed, "You really like Jason," he observed.

"He's sharp," Susan said. "And a keen observer; I think he has what it takes to be a fine physician if he decides to go that way. There are only major two issues with him that I can see and we're working through them."

"He's yellow, but what else?" House asked.

"He does lack confidence and I don't know where that comes from. I haven't learned anything of his past, but I suspect he was abused. He's jumpy around most men, especially large men. Getting him to stand up for himself has been quite a challenge. I've also had to spend quite a bit of time 'un-learning' him."

"Un-learning?" House asked.

"The previous lab director was only interested in robots that followed protocols to the letter regardless of whether or not the sample required special handling. I've been working very hard with the crew to understand that it's OK to think outside the box from time to time as long as you stay within the guidelines of the regulations. Jason has more capability than most in that regard, but he's been so squelched by the previous lab director, that it has been a struggle to get that part of him out in the open. I thought that working with you would be a great way to work on both of his issues and you would get a great tech in return."

"I already had a great tech," House said taking another bite.

"I appreciate that, but I'm not going to be around forever," Susan said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" House said, his face showing a hint of anxiousness that only Susan could distinguish.

"Relax, I'm not going anywhere," she said. When she saw his face relax she continued. "I'm having a baby, Greg. I'll be 47 in just a couple of months and I have to expect the unexpected. Besides, it's not like I'm going to be able to jump back on my feet running like I did after Laura. I'm planning on taking a full three months of maternity leave and then I may or may not come back to work. I haven't decided yet, so don't say anything to Foreman."

"You'll be bored out of your mind if you stay home full time," House said.

"Maybe, I don't know. It wasn't an option with Laura. We had to have both of our incomes to make ends meet and mine was the higher paying job anyway. I like that I have that option this time around. I can use the maternity leave to decide if that is what I want to do, and if I am bored out of my mind, I can hire a nanny and work part time."

House nodded and turned his attention to his plate. He finished off what he had and then leaned over and took another helping. Susan smiled, "I guess your taste buds have regenerated." She got up from the table, and went to the cabinet to put together some brownies for later. When House finished, he got up from the table and went into the living room to watch television while Susan mixed the batter for the brownies and cleaned up dinner. Glancing outside from the kitchen window she could see that the snow storm had started. She walked into the living room, "The storm has started; do you want to go home before it gets worse?"

"Nah, thought I'd stay here tonight if that's ok," he said.

"You know you're always welcome, but are you staying because David asked you to stay or because you want to?" Susan asked?

"A little of both," House admitted.

"I'm quite capable of taking care of myself," Susan said. "I'm happy to have you, but I don't want you to feel obligated. David is a bit over-reactive about some things."

"I told you before he was over-protective," House said.

"OK, I'll grant you that in some ways he is, but he has good reason to be. He lost his first wife not long after Phillip was born and he knows that this pregnancy is higher risk and not just because of my age. Regardless, don't stay unless you want to," Susan repeated.

House pointed the remote to the television and switched the channel, "Go finish the brownies woman."

Susan smiled and went back into the kitchen to put the brownies in the oven and then came back in and sat down curling up on the end of the couch to watch whatever show House was watching, "At least you have cable these days," he said.

"Yeah, so you can flip through a lot of channels to see that there is _still_ nothing on," Susan said, "For the most part, when I'm alone, I just keep it turned off. David likes the noise, but I'd just as soon have the silence, unless something decent is showing." She leaned her head over on the arm of the couch and closed her eyes.

"Tired?" House asked.

"No, I'm relaxing," she said. After a few moments a small smile showed on her face.

"He's moving." House observed.

"Yes," Susan said.

House got up from his seat and went over to where he had tossed his coat and jacket when he had come in and pulled his stethoscope out of his jacket pocket. He walked over to Susan and sat down next to her putting the stethoscope in his ears. He lifted her shirt and placed the stethoscope on her abdomen. Susan's eyes opened wide, "Hey! That's cold," she said.

"Quit your bellyaching and shut up," he said as he moved the diaphragm from place to place until he finally came to a stop. He listened for a moment and then pulled the earpiece off, "Strong heartbeat," he said as he handed the earpiece to Susan while holding the diaphragm in place.

She put the earpiece on and listened for a while. Soon the baby shifted and she couldn't hear the heartbeat anymore. She removed the stethoscope from her ears and handed it back to House, "Thanks," she said with a smile.

She laid her head back and closed her eyes. "It's Elaine," she said after a few moments.

"Elaine?" he asked. "Kind of a sucky name for a boy, don't you think?"

"_My_ middle name," she answered opening her eyes to look at him.

"So before you married David, your initials were SEW," House observed.

"Funny," she said. "Like I never heard that one before." She laid her head back again and closed her eyes again. She was quiet for a while enjoying the movements of her son when suddenly she said " AG."

"What's AG?" House asked beginning to wonder about the random thought patterns of pregnant women.

"My denomination," Susan said.

"House went through the acronyms for various protestant denominations when he finally realized which one it was, "Ah, so you're one of them there 'Holy Rollers'," he said mocking with a drawn out southern style accent.

Susan harrumphed, "Typical reaction. I'd have thought better of you. I've been a member of that congregation for the better part of 30 years and I've yet to see anybody 'roll' anywhere. I like the worship style; it's more upbeat and significantly less traditional and liturgical. And of course, I agree with the theology which is the most important part."

"You say so," House said, turning up the television effectively ending the conversation.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four:**

Jason paced back and forth in his apartment; the voice of the weatherman was in the background. The storm had started and by all indications, it was going to sock in the entire city. Normally Jason wouldn't worry about it, he'd just call in if he couldn't get out and the night staff would be covering things during the day since they would be just as trapped at the hospital and he would be at home. But things were different now; he wasn't just a member of the lab, his boss was counting on him to work with Dr. House, the most famous diagnostic physician in the world. He had a patient whose cultures were in the incubator and histology specimens were fixing. So far they didn't have any idea of what was wrong with the patient and tests would need to be run. He thought that Susan would take over the testing if she was at the hospital. He pulled out his phone and called the lab. "No, Susan left a couple of hours ago," the night supervisor said. Jason knew that Susan was pregnant, though she hadn't mentioned it. He noticed a couple of weeks ago, but it was only now starting to become obvious to most of the lab techs. The lab was buzzing with theories of how far along she was and when the baby was due. If he couldn't get in, then she would try. He didn't want her getting stuck trying to get to the hospital. The only problem was that he was hourly and Dr. Foreman had said no overtime. Well, he'd just have to make an exception, Jason thought as he made up his mind. He went to his closet and pulled out an overnight bag. He packed it for a couple of days and walked out the door.

MDMDMDMD

Taub stomped his feet on the mat outside the lobby of the hospital and then walked in the door. The storm was getting worse and since he didn't have the girls this weekend, he decided it was best to come to the hospital. Park and Adams were still here and wouldn't be leaving, so they could take shifts with the patient. Taub entered the elevator, "Hold the door please," he heard from behind. He put his hand over the door as Jason came inside.

"It's Jason, right?" Taub asked.

"Yes," he replied.

"Aren't you on the day shift?"

"Yes, but we have a patient and with this storm if I waited until my shift started to come to work, I wouldn't be able to get in. I thought maybe I could find a place to sleep here until I'm needed or until my shift starts," Jason explained.

"Good thinking," Taub said. "I think it would be OK if you crashed on the sofa in our conference room."

"Thanks."

MDMDMDMDMD

Susan got up from her seat to take the brownies out of the oven and then wandered over to the patio door that opened to the back yard. She flipped on the porch light so she could see. The snow was coming down in sheets and she heard pellets hitting the glass door, "It's started sleeting," she said to nobody in particular. She went into the bedroom to grab her shoes and then to the living room to sit down and put them on.

"Where are you going?" House asked.

"To work," she said. "We have a patient and if we wait much longer, we won't be able to get in."

"You're not going anywhere," House said. "The team can handle it without our presence."

"The _team_ takes care of the patient, _I_ take care of the testing," she said. "And _you_ can't diagnose without tests."

"And _you_ are not going anywhere. It's taken care of," House said.

Susan stared at him, but didn't remove her shoes. She just started getting up when her cell phone rang, "This is Susan," she said. "Oh, hello Jason, is something wrong?" She listened for a minute, "Oh, ok," she said. "Just make sure you clock in if they need you through the night," she continued, "and call me if you have any questions or need help." She hung up and looked over at House. "How'd you know he was there?"

"Taub texted me a few minutes ago," he answered. "Take your shoes back off and relax; your lackey has things under control." Susan sat back down for a minute and then got up and started down the hall, "Now where are you going?" House asked.

"To your room; to make up your bed," Susan said. She stopped at the linen closet, pulled out some fresh sheets and pillow cases and went into the guest room. She had just pulled off the bedspread and started unfolding the sheets when House walked in. He helped her unfold and put the fitted sheet over the mattress. While they made the bed he looked around, "Guess I'll be sharing with the baby when I stay over in the future."

"I was thinking it'd do you some good to deal with crying and dirty diapers from time to time," Susan teased.

"Hey, I dealt with that with Rachel, it's not like I'm inexperienced," he defended.

"A two-year old is not an infant; it's not quite the same," Susan said. After a moment she continued, "Actually we're going to convert the room we use as our office as the guest room. We're going to put in a futon that will make out into a bed and still be comfortable to sleep on. This room is closer to ours, so it works out better for the nursery. In time, this little guy will move upstairs in the room that Laura currently uses when she is home and this will become either the guest bedroom again or something else, if we don't move."

"You're moving?" House asked.

"David has mentioned it several times," Susan said. "He and Marie chose and decorated this house together and I think he's worried that it bothers me that I didn't have any choice in the matter. It doesn't."

"You can always decorate it yourself," House said.

"And I'm starting that with the baby's room," Susan said. "We'll see where it goes from there. This is the largest house I have ever lived in. If you'd asked me a few years ago if I would ever be living in a four bed-room house with an office and a dining room as well, I would have laughed in your face. There's more space here than I ever dreamed of… it's almost daunting."

"Daunting?" House asked.

"It's a lot to have to clean and keep up with. I feel like I spend every moment I'm at home cleaning something or doing laundry. This week has been a break of sorts; it's a lot easier to keep up with just myself than the boys as well," Susan explained. "It's going to get a lot more difficult when the baby is born."

"So hire a housekeeper," House said.

"I can't justify the cost when I can do it myself," Susan said.

"Seriously? Is David that much a control freak that you have to justify your expenses?"

"Not at all," Susan defended. She sat down on the bed they had just made. "_I_ can't justify it. I doubt David would care one way or the other. I just can't see wasting money on something like that when there are other things more important that I should spend the money on," gesturing to the boxes of baby furniture lining the walls of the room. "Besides, spending money on something just to benefit myself is selfish."

"That's Jeff talking, not Susan. Didn't you just tell me that your income is secondary?" House asked.

"No."

"Yes, you did. _You said_ that you have the option to not have to go to work after the baby is born; therefore your income is secondary," House said pointedly. "So use your money to hire a housekeeper; it's not like you need to help pay bills around here. You're working now because you want to, not because you have to. Take advantage of the income and do something for yourself for once. It's OK to be selfish once in a while."

"I'm working because I can _help_ people," Susan argued.

"_And_ because you want to," House countered and then softened as he sat down next to her on the bed, "Susan, there's nothing wrong with that. You like what you do and you're good at it and if you manage to 'benefit people' while you're doing what you love, then that's an added bonus for you. Personally, I could care less, I just like the puzzle. The point is _you _don't have to justify your every action on a moral imperative. Hire a housekeeper to come once a week; it won't break the bank."

"I'll think about it," Susan promised. She looked around the room at the baby furniture and sighed. "There is a lot to do."

"There is," House agreed. "What is it you're always telling me? 'You're not alone anymore'. That applies to you as well. There isn't any need for you to have to do everything yourself."

Susan nodded and got up from the bed, "And you _do_ care; you just don't want anybody to know that you do. Your clothes and things I have for you are in the top two drawers of the dresser." She went to her room and changed into some sweats and thick socks and then went back downstairs, "How about some brownies and ice cream?" she asked as she walked through the living room, but House wasn't anywhere in sight. She went on into the kitchen and found him dishing out some ice cream over a warm brownie.

"Sounds good to me," he said with a smirk. He handed her a bowl with the concoction and dished out another helping of ice cream for himself. Leaving the ice cream open on the cabinet, he walked back to the living room and parked himself in front of the television. Susan followed him out with her eyes and looked back at the cabinet with the ice cream sitting opened. She smiled to herself and set her bowl on the table and walked over to put it away. She took the time to cover the pan of brownies and then headed to join House picking up her bowl along the way. Just as she sat down, House's cell phone rang, "What?" he said rudely.

"He's getting worse," Taub said.

"Define worse," House said putting the phone on speaker so Susan could hear.

"His hand is continuing to swell and he's developing pustules over the back of the hand," Taub replied.

"His face is swelling too and there's a rash across his cheeks and nose," Parks said.

"What's his white count?" House asked.

"It's not an infection," Adams said, "He's not running a temperature."

"That's nice to know," House said writing the symptoms down on the leg of the pajama bottoms he was wearing, "but I asked about his white count?" There was silence, "See, that's why I needed you on this case, you would have already ran a white count," House said to Susan.

"Is Jason there?" Susan asked staring at the pajama bottom white board.

"I'm here," Jason said.

"Run the white count and a sed rate and while you're pulling his blood, pull for a CRP as well," Susan said. House nodded with her train of thought.

"If you don't have an x-ray, get one and send me the image," House said. The phone went silent while the team went to do their jobs. House and Susan were silent while they each thought about the case, television droning in the background. "I'm going to need your laptop," House said.

Susan went to the office and grabbed her laptop for House. She sat down next to him, opened it and turned it on. While they were waiting for it to boot up she said, "I'm sorry, I should have thought to tell him to pull for CBC."

"What are your thoughts?" House asked.

"Well, there is obviously inflammation, so I thought the CRP might be helpful. If the sed rate is elevated, it might be some form of neutrophilic dermatosis."

"OK, but caused by what?"

"Could be a lot of things," Susan said.

"Name them," House said.

Susan knew that he knew all the causes; he was testing her, "Could be a heat injury of some kind or exposure to fertilizers; I think he said he was a farmer or something."

"What else?" House prompted.

"Something systemic like renal adenocarcinoma, hep C, strep infection; even autoimmune diseases can cause this sort of thing," Susan said. "So, I should have Jason run an ANA and a hep panel as well." House nodded and she picked up her phone. She gave Jason the added tests to run and started to go over the reasons when House grabbed the phone out of her hand.

"Tell Taub to biopsy the kidney and get it to histology with the other biopsies." He hung up the phone and handed it back to Susan. He logged into the hospital system and pulled up the x-ray image of the patient's hand. "Tell me what you see," House said.

"No breaks or foreign bodies, so no trauma to the hand," Susan said.

"I wouldn't go that far," House said. "Look here," he said pointing to the soft tissue. Susan shook her head. "It shows diffuse swelling," House said.

"Okay. We already knew it was swollen," Susan said.

"I'm trying to teach you something," House said with some exasperation.

Susan smiled, "I know. Thank you." It wasn't long before House had shown her everything he wanted her to see on the x-ray. She yawned and looked at the clock, "It's getting late."

"Stating the obvious sister," House said.

"Well then, _obviously_, I'm going to leave you here and go to bed," Susan said. She got up, "Goodnight Greg."

"Night," House replied. House stayed up and snooped through her computer. Momentarily, he thought he probably shouldn't be doing that, but his curiosity got the best of him and it's not like she didn't know he wouldn't be able to resist. He looked through her photos and other folders when he came across a folder with his name on it. There were quite a few files in there, a bit like a scrap book. The file started almost two years before Susan had come to PPTH and he could see that she had done quite a bit of research on him before coming to New Jersey, but she hadn't stopped when she arrived. She had copies of every case study he had published and newspaper articles about him. She even had copies of his arrest and prison record and his marriage license to Dominique. He wondered what the obsession was all about, but then he realized he did the same thing to everybody else. He'd ask her about it later. He closed that folder and saw another one labeled "Baby Boy James" and opened it. She had quite a few ultrasound photos, courtesy of being an older mother. He looked through the images and saw that his nephew was developing normally. He knew this of course, because he did his own share of snooping and had hacked into her medical file at the hospital. The chromosome map was there, but he had already examined it quite thoroughly when the test was done. There was an excel file listing furniture and items to purchase and ever the frugal spender, she also had with each item a list of prices from several retail outlets. It appeared she still had quite a few things yet to purchase. He'd put a bug in Wilson's ear to get her a few things. Finally there was a word document titled "names" that he had to open. It was fairly typical and was interesting only in that they all had one thing in common, the middle name was Gregory. The corner of his mouth turned up; he shouldn't have been surprised, but still, it was cool. House typed a line in the document and then finally he closed her laptop and headed to bed. As he lay there, he listened to the sleet hitting the window and planned on spending the day and another night here if not longer.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five:**

Susan woke up shivering. At first she just curled up in a tighter ball and tried to go back to sleep, but after a few minutes she realized she was going to have to get up to go the restroom anyway. She opened her eyes and started to get out of bed noting that it was really dark. The night light in the bathroom had burned out sometime during the night. She looked over at her clock and then realized that the electricity had gone out, no wonder it was cold. For some reason Susan wasn't aware, this house was total electric. Her house in Texas had a natural gas heater, water heater and stove, so even when the electricity went out, they had hot water and were able to keep warm. She opened the drawer of her night stand and pulled out a flash light she had stored there and made her way to the bathroom. When she was finished, she slipped on her robe over the sweats she had worn to bed and started out of her room.

Entering the living room, she made her way to the fireplace to start a fire. It wouldn't heat the entire house, but at least this room would be warm. While she was putting the wood in the fireplace, House limped in leaning heavily on his cane, "I was going to come get you as soon as I got the fire going," she said. "Are you OK?" she asked when she saw how he was walking.

"Cold causes my leg to cramp," he said.

"Well, have a seat and let me finish getting the fire started and then we'll do something about that," Susan said. When the fire was going successfully, she left the room and came back with a couple of blankets, pillows and a box. She went over to House handing him a blanket and pillow and told him to lie down, "Is it OK if I massage your leg?" House grimaced, but nodded. Susan started carefully at the bottom of the deep scar and worked the muscles around the missing thigh. As she worked the muscles, she thought this would be much more efficient if she had some lotion and was working on his bare skin instead of through the pajama bottoms, but she wasn't about to make that suggestion knowing that the massage alone made him uncomfortable enough. "Thank you," she said.

"What for?" House asked quietly.

"For allowing me to help you," she said as she continued to work.

"I'm not alone anymore, right?" he asked.

Susan nodded and looked up at his face. She could see less pain in his face and could feel the cramp starting to relax. After a few more minutes she asked, "How does it feel?"

"Better. Thanks," he said.

Susan reached down for the box she had brought with her, opened it and pulled out a package, "I had started using these for my menstrual cramps before I got pregnant and found them very helpful," she said. She opened the individually wrapped sheet and pulled off the backing. "When the air hits the chemical disks on the inside, it warms up like a hand warmer, and it has an adhesive back on it so it stays in place. Put this over your thigh, it'll help." Susan got up and went to the kitchen to give him some privacy while he put the heat patch in place. She came back with a glass of water for each of them, and then curled up on the chair with the other pillow and blanket. It wasn't long before she was dozing off. House watched her sleep and once again found himself wondering how his life would have been different if they'd grown up together. He sighed and turned over on his side facing the fire. Soon, the heat patch relaxed the muscles further and he drifted off.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six:**

Sunshine streamed in through the window of the cabin at the campground. Phillip opened his eyes and sat up. He was in the top bunk; he leaned over and looked at his dad sleeping below him, "Hey Dad, are you awake?" he asked.

"Yes," David said opening his eyes.

"Have you called mom?"

"Not since yesterday, you know that."

"Do you think we got a lot of snow?" Phillip asked.

"I think we got a lot more than snow," David said. "That storm looked nasty according to what the camp director said last night. I'm going to head over to the headmaster's cabin to use his landline in a few minutes." David got out of bed, dressed and then pounded on the dishpan he used to wake up the boys every morning, "Rise and shine!" he yelled. Moans and groans erupted from around the room as the boys gradually got out of bed. "Today we pack up and go home, I want this cabin spotless in an hour and then we'll go over for breakfast together." David left the boys to get dressed and clean the cabin while he went to call Susan. He was out of range of any cell towers here in the Ozark campground, so his cell phone was useless. He walked outside and took a deep breath and then started coughing from the cold air hitting the back of his throat, _that was stupid_, he thought to himself as he made his way to the headmaster's cabin.

David knocked on the door and was let in by the headmaster's wife. He stomped his feet on the porch to knock off the snow from his feet before entering. "Good morning David," she said when he came in. "Is everybody up and around in your cabin?"

"Yes, the boys are working on cleaning the cabin, well – at least that's what I told them to do when I left. We'll see how much they've accomplished when I get back over there. I was wondering if I could use your phone again this morning to check on my wife."

"Certainly," she said.

David went to the phone and dialed the number. He got the fast busy signal indicating that there was something wrong with the line. He hung up and tried again and then the hospital next with the same result. "If you don't mind, I'd like to try again in an hour or so."

"That's no problem dear. When is she due?" she asked.

"In June," David answered.

"I bet you're both very excited," she said.

"Yes, but worried too since she's an older mother."

"My mother was in her 40's when she had my younger sister. I bet everything will be just fine," she said reassuringly.

"That's what we're praying for," David said. He left the house and went back to the boy's cabin. As he had expected, there wasn't a great deal of cleaning going on. The boys were horsing around throwing water balloons and spraying shaving cream at each other. David pulled out his whistle and blew hard. The boys stopped what they were doing and scrambled to stand in one long line at attention. David went down the line counting out the first four boys and told them to sweep and mop the bathroom floor. The next four were sent to clean the shower stalls and the rest were assigned the main room. "You have 30 minutes," David said. He sat down to watch while the boys got busy.

Phillip was among those assigned to cleaning the bathroom. When they were finished he approached his dad and said that they were finished. David got up and inspected the bathroom. They'd cleaned the shower stalls, and swept and mopped the floor, but the toilets and urinals had been untouched, "You're not done," he said pointing at the remaining items needing cleaned.

"You didn't say we had to clean those," Phillip argued.

"They're part of the bathroom, get to it," David said. He went back to the main room and sat back down. The main room was showing progress. All the trash had been picked up and several boys were sweeping. A couple of others were washing the shaving cream off of the walls and mopping up the water. It wasn't long before they were finished. David inspected the room looking for any remaining articles of clothing. Satisfied he sent the boys to the canteen for breakfast and followed behind.

MDMDMDMDMD

"I can't get through," Jason said to Taub hanging up the phone. Taub had been trying to call House on his cell phone and Jason had tried Susan's home phone from his cell phone. The hospital land line was down as was access to the internet so communicating outside the hospital by email wasn't an option either.

"Well, I guess we're on our own then," Taub said. "I'll check on the patient while you get started on the histology samples. We'll let Park and Adams rest for a few more hours. I'll join you in the lab in a few minutes." Jason and Taub went their separate ways.

MDMDMDMD

House woke to the sound of someone walking upstairs in the attic. He heard something drop followed by an exclamation. _What is she doing up there?_ He thought to himself. He was answered soon when Susan came traipsing downstairs with her hands full of open fire cooking gear. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"No electricity, that means we cook the old fashioned way over the fire. This is going to be fun," she said kneeling down in front of the fireplace to set down the fireplace accessories.

House groaned, "Oh, Lord help us." He sat up.

"You praying?" Susan said. "Am I rubbing off on you?"

"No, it was a curse," House said.

Susan suddenly turned serious as she turned to look at him, "Not in my house it's not."

Properly admonished, House nodded his head in apology. He surprised himself with his own apology; his tolerance for religion was remarkably high around Susan. Anybody else and he would have had some smart ass comment to belittle them, but he couldn't do that to Susan. She was the one person of faith that he actually respected.

"How's your leg this morning?" she asked changing the subject thereby easing the tenseness in the room.

"Reasonable, actually" he said. He picked up the box of heat patches and looked it over. "I'll have to get some of these."

"You can have those if you like, it's not like I'm going to need any for a while – if ever again," Susan said.

Susan got up and walked over to the front door and opened it. "Oh, wow," she said staring at the piles of ice covered snow dunes covering the front yard and House's car, "We are definitely going nowhere today," she said. "I'm going to try to call Jason and see what the cultures look like and start him on the histology." She picked up the phone and put it to her ear. She started to dial when she realized there was no dial tone. She disconnected and reconnected, but there was no change, "Phone line is down," she said. She picked up her cell phone and dialed the hospital; she was immediately met with an auto voice message that said that all lines were busy and to try the call later. "I can't get through to the hospital," she said. She tried calling Jason directly on his cell phone and got the same message. House tried to call Taub on his phone; nothing. "Well, I guess they're on their own," Susan said hanging up her phone and setting it on the coffee table.

MDMDMDMD

David hung up the phone, "Still can't get through?" the Headmaster asked?

"No," he answered.

"I'm sure she's fine," he said. "She's probably curled up next to the fireplace dreaming about girly things."

David chuckled, "No, I can guarantee you she's not dreaming about girly things, but she might very well be curled up next to the fireplace. Knowing Susan, she'll consider this an adventure of sorts, trying to figure out how to use all those fireplace accessories in the attic to fix a meal over the fireplace since there is no electricity in the area." David had glanced at the news on the television when he had come in to place the call. Apparently all of New Jersey had been hit hard by the storm, but the Princeton area had received the brunt of it. Electricity was out all over the township and the roads were closed. He wasn't sure how he and Phillip were going to get home, but as soon as the rest of the parents arrived to pick up their boys, they were headed to the airport.

MDMDMDMDMDMD

"What do the cultures look like?" Taub asked as he walked into the lab.

Jason had just finished evaluating the last plate, "Nothing so far on anything, bacterial or fungal. If it's bacterial, it's a slow grower. Fungal usually takes a little longer anyway. I thought I would take the fixed tissues down to histology and have them process it since I really don't know how to do that yet."

Taub nodded his agreement and started looking over the lab tests. He was interested in the additional testing that Susan had told Jason to run. She was requesting tests for autoimmune and hepatitis in addition to the bacterial and fungal tests they were running now. House had asked for a kidney biopsy. His mind mulled over what they were thinking. He decided to wake Adams and Park and have them meet in the conference room so they could put their heads together.

MDMDMDMD

Jason walked into the main lab and took the biopsy material to histology for them to process. He asked them to prepare 10 slides of each biopsy and let him know when they were done and he would let them know how House's team wanted them stained. When they told him it would be later in the day before they would be ready to stain, he was disappointed but it was what it was. He decided to start on his regular work for the day. The night supervisor came over to him, "Have you heard from Susan at all?"

"No, I tried to call her but couldn't get through," he said holding his cell phone up.

"I haven't been able to either and I haven't gotten any calls from any of the day shift, so it looks like the night crew is going to have to pull a double at least," he said. "How did you get in this morning?"

"I didn't, I came in last night and crashed in Dr. House's conference room. He has a patient right now and if I didn't come in, Susan would and….,"

"Yeah, I understand," the supervisor said. "I'd rather her not get out in this mess either. She's the best lab director we've had here in many years; I'd hate anything to happen to her." The supervisor looked closely at Jason, "You have a bit of a crush on her, don't you?"

"She's nice and has helped me a lot. I have a lot of respect for her, she really stood up to Johnson when he was causing her all those problems," Jason defended and then blushed and looked down, "Don't say anything, OK?" he continued quietly.

"Of course not, just remember she's happily married and from what I hear has a bun in the oven," he said. "And of course, you're not much older than her daughter anyway." The older man walked off and went over to the white board on the wall and started working on sleep schedules for the techs so they could get some rest while they were trapped at the hospital. They were running a skeleton crew as he had allowed those that couldn't make arrangements for their children and/or elderly parents to leave before the roads became impassable, but people had to have sleep or they would start making mistakes.

MDMDMDMD

Susan had set up the fireplace grill that had been stored in the attic and went into the kitchen to find the cast iron frying pan. She couldn't use that pan on her glass top stove, but it would be perfect for an open flame. She was on her knees with her head buried in the back of the cabinet when House walked in the kitchen, "Susan, all you have in my clothes are jeans and t-shirts. Does David have anything warmer I could wear?"

"Oh, I hadn't even thought of winter clothes," she said as she pulled out of the cabinet holding the frying pan. "I'll go find something for you. Would you pull the eggs and sausage out of the fridge? If we don't open and close it too much, it should hold temperature for a while." She set the pan on the cabinet and left to find House something else to wear. House pulled the eggs and sausage out of the fridge and set them next to the frying pan. He looked at the pan and pulled out a rag to clean it. It had been in the cabinet for quite a while and had gathered dust. Susan came back in carrying a navy blue sweatshirt and tossed it to him. "It's not exactly your style, but at least it'll be warmer," she said. She looked at the eggs and sausage and realized she needed one more ingredient. She opened the refrigerator quickly and took out a couple of slices of cheese. "If the electricity stays out for too long, we may need to move some of this stuff outside."

Susan took the pan and the food to the living room then went back to kitchen for the camping coffee pot she had also found in the attic. She washed it out, filled it with water and coffee grounds before taking it back to the living room. Setting the pot on the fireplace grill she told House he'd have coffee in a few minutes and then she started on breakfast.

House watched her with amusement as she worked on breakfast; she was really getting into this like it was some sort of adventure. Personally, he figured he'd be getting bored pretty soon, but for the moment he was entertained. The only light in the house was coming through the windows and from the fireplace. Susan had opened the curtains in every room downstairs to give them the light they needed to see as they walked around the house. It wasn't long before the smell of browning sausage came from the fire and House's mouth started watering. He watched as she added the eggs and cheese and made scrambled eggs. The coffee had started percolating in the pot indicating that it was finished brewing. Susan moved the pan to the side and placed a couple pieces of buttered bread upside down on the grill to toast the bread. When that was finished, she dished up the meal and handed House his plate. Susan watched while he took the first bite. Satisfied with his reaction, she smiled and sat back to eat her own breakfast.

When breakfast was over, Susan took the dishes back to the kitchen to clean up and then disappeared down the hall. She came back in the room with her hands full, "Now what are you up to?" he asked.

"I've accomplished one goal so far; your stomach is full," Susan said. "Now I have to keep your mind busy, or you're going to go insane from boredom. You can't do any more for your patient until you hear something from the team and there's no TV to watch, so I've found a few things to keep you occupied." Susan sat down a deck of cards, a chess set, a book of advanced level crossword puzzles and a couple of recent journals from the Journal of the American Chemical Society as well as the Journal of Clinical Chemistry. "I'm afraid I don't have any medical journals here, but you might find these interesting."

House glanced through the journals and nodded, "Later," he said. "Set up the chess board; let's see what you've got."

"Not much, I'm afraid, but I'll give you my best shot," she replied setting up the board.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Taub was at the white board listing all the tests that House had ordered either directly or via Susan to Jason before they had been cut off from communication when Park and Adams walked into the conference room.

"Why are you writing tests instead of symptoms?" Park asked.

"I'm trying to get into House's head to see what he's thinking," Taub said.

"Dangerous place," Adams said. "Are you sure you really want to go there?"

"Well, I don't have a clue about what is wrong with the patient, do you?" Taub asked.

"No," Adams said.

"I thought if we could figure out what House is thinking, that might give us a clue." Taub turned around and continued writing on the white board.

"You're being ridiculous," Park said. "Obviously all the diseases he is ruling out cause swelling."

"Localized to the hand?" Taub asked.

"Point taken," Park said and sat down.

MDMDMDMD

Having finished going through security at the airport, David and Phillip found their way to the seating area near where their flight would depart. David told Phillip to stay put and walked over to the flight attendant's desk.

"We can get you as far as Chicago, but all flights into Newark are cancelled so you'll be spending at least one night in O'Hare if not two," the attendant said as she looked at her computer screen.

"I can't stay away from home that long. My wife is pregnant and there is no power. I need to get home," he said.

"I'm really sorry," the attendant said. "I don't know how to help you."

"What about some of the other airports in the neighboring states?" he asked. "Maybe I could fly to one of those airports and drive the rest of the way."

The attendant looked back at her computer and checked around, "It looks like they are anticipating Philadelphia International to be ready to accept air traffic this evening. We could connect you through Chicago to Philadelphia and then you could drive from there."

"That's about an hour away in good weather," David said. "Let's do that."

The attendant made the necessary changes to David and Phillip's flights and printed their boarding passes after David paid the accompanying fees. Transaction completed, David went back to sit next to his son and explained the change in their flight plans.

"You're worried about Mom," Phillip said. "Didn't you say Uncle Greg was staying with her?"

"Yes, but Mom is all about taking care of others. Having House stay with her was as much to keep her at home as it was to keep her from being alone. House knew that as well even if he didn't say it when I spoke with him," David explained. "Having House there is going to put her in 'take care my brother mode', but that's preferable to her trying to get out in the weather to make sure he's OK; but if he's not watching her and putting a damper on her activities, she's liable to take unnecessary risks while 'taking care of him'."

"Oh," Phillip said. "Well, it's better to have a mom that cares too much than one that doesn't care at all."

"Infinitely better," David agreed knowing that Phillip was talking about his friend Jerrod.

"What kind of risks do you think she would take?" Phillip asked.

"I can see her shoveling a path to House's car or some hair-brained idea like that because she knows he won't be able to do it with his leg. I don't want her exerting herself like that. I'd rather take care of that myself."

"I don't think she'll shovel a path to his car dad. She wouldn't want him driving anyway," Phillip said.

"Good point," David looked at his watch; they had two hours before they boarded for Chicago. Once they arrived in Chicago, they had a three hour wait before they left for Philadelphia. From there he would rent a 4x4 from one of the rental car agencies and drive to Princeton. The storm was over and the crews would be out working on the highways and main thoroughfares of the town. It was going to be the residential areas that would be left to last for clearing. He should be able to get through at least to the edge of his street and walk in the rest of the way. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and tried to call the house and both Susan's and House's cell phones with no luck. He leaned his head on the back of the chair and tried to force himself to relax.

"Dad?" Phillip asked.

"Yes."

"They don't have any electricity, do they?"

"No," David answered with his eyes still closed.

"How much wood do we have next to the fireplace?"

David's eyes flew open, "Oh…."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Susan made her move. This was their third game of chess in the last two hours. House had won the first game within ten minutes. He'd given her a look that had "Seriously?" written all over it, but hadn't said anything as he set up the board for round two. "I told you I wasn't any good," Susan said responding to his face.

"I know you're better than that," he said.

"How would you know that?" she asked. "You've never played me in chess before."

"I know how your mind works. Now get with the program," he said putting the last pawn in place.

Susan settled in determined to make their second game more of a challenge for him. She thought through each move and tried to anticipate his. The second game had lasted nearly an hour before House announced, "Checkmate. Much better."

"Alright," Susan said with a sigh. "I'm hungry, so how about we eat something before we play again." She'd made a couple of peanut butter sandwiches for House and one for herself then set up the board for a third round.

Thirty minutes into game three, House lifted his eyebrows in surprise at her move, "What kind of crap move is that?" he complained.

"It's a legal move," Susan said.

"Yeah, it's legal, but it's pointless. There's no logical reason for that move," he argued.

"Just because you don't see a reason for it, doesn't mean there isn't one," she countered.

His total strategy blown, he settled down and studied the board trying to see what she was doing. After several minutes, he made his move. Susan countered with one of her own. The game practically turned into speed chess at that point, one move after another until finally, "Checkmate!" Susan exclaimed triumphantly. She stood up and danced around the room with her arms raised, "Yeah! I rock."

"Oh, sit down and shut up," House said leaning back against the back of the couch.

"You're just sore because you lost to a girl," Susan sang, still dancing her victory dance.

House rolled his eyes and picked up one of the journals and lay back on the couch pointedly ignoring her as he opened the magazine to the table of contents. Susan settled down and picked up her own book she'd been reading and curled up on the chair. It wasn't many minutes before the both of them had dozed off.

MDMDMDMD

"Still nothing?" Jason asked the night supervisor as he watched him close his cell phone.

"No," he answered.

"How long do you think we'll have power?" he asked.

"The generators are kept full of diesel. They'll run until we run out of fuel and we have enough fuel to keep them going for several days. The maintenance crew is staying on top of that, so no worries there," he explained. "I'm just worried about our people. I hope all of them were at home and not caught out in the storm."

Jason nodded and turned his attention back to his work. His shift would end soon, but he would keep working as long as the supervisor needed him to.

MDMDMDMD

"This is pointless," Adam's said. "Let's treat the symptoms and at least give the guy some relief."

Taub nodded his agreement, so Park left to order topical steroids be put on the patient's hand. They didn't want to risk oral steroids for fear that the culprit was an infection that just hadn't shown itself on the cultures yet.

Jason walked in the conference room with a rack of histology slides, "How do you want these stained?" he asked.

"Let's start with a standard H&E stain and then we'll decide if we need anything further," Taub said.

Jason started to turn to leave when he noticed the white board. He hadn't actually sat down to look at the combination of tests that had been ordered all together. He studied them for a moment, "Interesting" he said.

"What's that?" Taub asked.

"All these tests – I hadn't bothered trying to put it together before," he said. "House is trying to rule out the different conditions that cause neutrophilic dermatosis."

Taub's mouth dropped open in surprise, but he quickly recovered, "That fits."

"How do you know about neutrophilic dermatosis?" Adam's asked.

"I read," Jason said. He started to walk out the door when Taub stopped him.

"Stain the slides with PAS, Gram, GMS and AFB stains. Those stains should nail down the type of neutrophilic dermatosis which will help nail down the cause," Taub said. Jason nodded and went back to histology to let the histotechs know what stains were ordered.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Susan woke up and rubbed her neck. She had a slight crick in it from sleeping in the chair. She wished she could lay out flat to sleep but there was no way she was kicking her brother off of the couch. He wouldn't be able to rest with his leg in any other position. She looked over at the fire and saw that it was starting to dwindle. She quietly got up and put another log on the fire and then looked back over at the metal basket that held the wood. There was only one log of wood left. Well, she'd just have to go outside and get more; there was no telling when the electricity would come back on.

Susan went into her bedroom and changed into some heavy socks and put on her work boots she used to use when she lived in Texas on the acreage with Jeff. She hadn't worn them since she'd moved to New Jersey; there wasn't much use for them around here. She grabbed her coat and gloves and a stocking cap and quietly traversed through the living room so as not to wake Greg. She slipped into the garage and found the snow shovel and a garden sized garbage bag and then opened the door to the back yard. The snow was deep, coming up over her knees. It would be considerably deeper in the drifts as she got closer to the rack of wood by the fence. Susan knew that David kept a tarp over it to keep it dry in the winter months, so she'd have to shovel down to the ground to find the end of the tarp so she could reach under it to the wood. She took a deep breath and took a step out through the door. Her feet and legs broke through the ice layer on the top of the snow causing her to fall and get covered in snow. She trudged and scrambled forward using her body to break through the snow for what seemed like an eternity before she made it to where the wood rack should be. She started digging and had been doing so for about 15 minutes when she realized she was digging too far to the left. She worked her way to the right and dug until she found the rack then dug down to the ground to find the edge of the tarp.

Susan stopped and leaned on the shovel to rest. Her heart was pounding hard and she was quite out of breath. She took a few moments to calm down and realized that she was sweating from the exertion. She didn't have much experience in this kind of weather, but she knew that breaking a sweat in sub-freezing weather was not the thing to do. After the pounding subsided a bit, she resumed her digging until enough of the tarp was uncovered that she was able to lift it high enough to reach under and pull out some wood. She filled the bag full of logs and started her trek back through the snow to the house dragging the bag and the shovel behind her.

MDMDMDMD

House woke with a start. Not knowing what had woken him up, he looked over at the chair where Susan was sleeping; she wasn't there. He sat up and rubbed his leg to get the circulation moving and then stood up. He grabbed his cane and went to the kitchen, she wasn't in there so he turned around and went back to her bedroom; "Susan?" he hollered. Nothing.

Great, she was probably traipsing around in the attic again; he went to the base of the stairs, "Susan?" No answer. He sighed and started his climb; he hated stairs. Finally he reached the top and found the attic door and opened it. She wasn't in there either. He opened the door to Phillip's room and poked his head in – typical pre-teen boy's room but no Susan, so he turned around across the hall to Laura's room and went inside. She wasn't in here either, but out Laura's window he saw something move. He walked over to the window and saw her slowly making her way across the back yard to the house dragging a black bag behind her. He cursed; this kind of crap was why he had stayed here in the first place. He made his way downstairs as quickly as he could, hopping down the steps on his left leg to keep from jarring his right. He practically ran through the living room and kitchen to the garage. When he entered the garage, he saw that the door to the back yard was open and he went to the opening and hollered, "What in the hell do you think you're doing?"

Susan didn't answer but continued to trudge forward, slipping and falling in the snow several times. After the last fall, she scrambled up and turned around to open the bag. She pulled out about 5 logs of wood to lighten the load and then resumed her course to the house.

House stepped outside, the snow coming up to just below his knees where he was standing and made his way over to Susan who was now about 5 feet away from the door. He grabbed her and dragged her inside, the bag of wood trailing behind. She was shivering uncontrollably and soaked to the bone, "What kind of hair-brained idea was this?" he said pealing her coat off of her.

"W-w-w-e n-n-n-need-ed w-w-oo-oo-dd," Susan said.

"We didn't need it that bad, we're not in danger of freezing just yet," he said continuing his work. "You don't have the right kind of clothes on to be out in this kind of weather. This coat is designed for dry winters, not wet ones. You've been here two years, why don't you have an appropriate coat?" House admonished as he pulled the bag out of her clenched hand and dropped it to the floor and maneuvered her the rest of the way out of her coat. That complete, he practically dragged her through the house to her bathroom. He pushed her inside and got a towel and resumed his work of getting her out of her clothes and drying her off. Everything was soaked and he dropped them to the floor for her to clean up later. His primary task at this point was to get her warm and he couldn't do that with her in wet clothes. She was shivering so hard she was unable to help him. When he had her stripped down to her underwear he left the bathroom to her dresser and pulled out another pair of sweats and a t-shirt. Back in the bathroom, Susan was trying to maneuver to the toilet but was not making much progress. House came back in the room, "Need to pee?" he asked.

Susan nodded.

"Wonderful," he said with sarcasm. He guided her to the toilet, averted his eyes and removed her underwear and sat her down on the toilet. He stepped out to give her some privacy and returned a moment later with fresh underclothes. He pulled her to a standing position to dress her and turned her around so he could help her out of her bra and still give her some modesty, whatever was left at this point, and slipped a dry one on and hooked it in the back. She was completely helpless and barely able to stand upright. "This was about the stupidest thing you could have done Susan," he said turning her back around to face him. "Lean on me," he said as he bent over to slip her feet in the legs of her pants and pulled them up. Finished with that, he pulled the t-shirt over her head followed by the sweatshirt. Finally dressed, he led her to the living room and sat her down on the couch. He sat on the coffee table in front of her and pulled up her feet one at a time to put on a pair of socks. He grabbed the blanket he'd used through the night and sat down next to her wrapping the blanket around both of them. He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her rubbing her sides and back vigorously to get the circulation going to warm her up. Susan continued to shiver uncontrollably. He reached over to the coffee table and picked up the coffee he'd been drinking before he'd dozed off, it wasn't hot – but it was still fairly warm. He brought it to her mouth for her to drink knowing she wouldn't be able to hold it herself just yet without spilling it everywhere. Susan turned her head away from the drink in disgust, "No, don't pull that crap with me; you're drinking it like it or not."

"The b-b-b-baby…." She started.

"One cup of coffee isn't going to hurt the baby, but you having your core temperature too low for too long, will. Drink," he ordered.

Susan took a drink and swallowed with a grimace, "s'aw-f-f-ful"

He held it to her mouth again and made her drink the entire cup. When she was finished, he put the cup down and continued to hold her close using his body temperature to help warm her up. Her shivering started to slow down and eventually came to a stop with an occasional shudder, "I'm sorry," she whispered with a gasp trying not to cry.

"Shut up," he said softly as his way of telling her it was ok.

Caffeine running through her system or not, it was a lot of work on her body to bring itself back up just a few degrees to normal temperature and Susan fell asleep curled up in his arms. He reached over to the side table and picked up his stethoscope from where he had laid it and slipped it over his ears. He moved the blanket just enough and lifted her shirts out of the way so he could hear. He moved the diaphragm around until he found the heartbeat. He listened for several moments until he was satisfied and then wrapped her back up. He sat there holding her for a few moments longer and then shifted so he could get up. He held her head as he put his pillow beneath it and stretched her out on the couch making sure the blanket covered her completely. He walked over to the fireplace and placed the last log on the fire, then picked up the basket in his left hand and made his way to the garage for more wood.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

Jason brought the stained slides to Susan's old lab and paged Dr. Taub to meet him there. Together they looked through the slides, Taub pointing out areas of interest for Jason. As Taub was explaining what he was looking for, Jason's phone beeped with a text. He pulled it out of his pocket, it was his mother. "Heard there was a storm, you OK?"

"Yes" he returned the message. Having received that message, he tried to call Susan's cell phone. Maybe now he would be able to get through. It was crackly, but it was ringing, "Hello?" he said when the phone stopped ringing, but there was no sound. He pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at the display, "Call Failed". He tried again with the same result, but this time there was no ringing.

Taub was trying House's cell at the same time, but was still not getting through.

"Well, maybe it'll start working soon," he said. "I got more out of it this time than anytime previously."

"I wish we could get through, I'd really like to run our theories by House before starting treatment, but I may not have an option," Taub said.

MDMDMDMD

Susan's cell phone vibrated and House picked it up to answer. He thought he heard a voice on the other end briefly, but he couldn't be sure. He tried to call the hospital, but was unsuccessful. He tried from his phone, but it didn't work either. There was still no dial tone from the land line. This sucked, but it could be worse. He put the phones back down and continued reading the journal while Susan slept.

MDMDMDMD

David and Phillip walked into the airport terminal from their plane at Chicago O'Hare and looked at the displays to see where they would meet their connecting flight to Philadelphia which as it turns out was on the opposite side of the terminal. They turned and headed that direction. There was a three hour layover, so they weren't in any hurry as they made their way. "I'm hungry," Phillip announced.

"Me too," David said. As they neared the central area of the airport, they found a small restaurant and went inside. They were quickly seated and provided a dinner menu. Phillip sighed as he looked through the choices. "What's wrong son?"

"There isn't much for me to choose from," Phillip said. "I miss mom's cooking; at least she makes a variety of things and I'm not stuck with just salads."

"She is a good cook and she enjoys the challenge of finding recipes that will work with your diet restrictions and at the same time not get boring."

"The ladies at the camp should take lessons from her," Phillip said. "I didn't think I could ever get tired of oatmeal. At least mom puts fruit in it."

"They were at a bit of a loss to know what to do for you," David admitted. "Next time, I'll ask Susan to send ahead a few recipes. It wouldn't hurt those boys to have something besides hamburgers, hotdogs and pizza at camp anyway.

David reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He turned it on and noted that he had three missed calls and one voice mail. He hit the button for the missed calls and saw that Laura had tried to reach him. The voice mail was from her, "David, I've been trying to get in touch with mom and I can't get through. I guess the storm has knocked out the phone lines or something. I just thought I would check with you and see if you've had any luck. I'm sure she's fine. Talk to you later."

Phillip had heard the voice mail since he was sitting so close, "Dad, how come Laura doesn't call you dad, if I call Susan mom?"

"It's a little different son. You're still a kid and you don't remember your mother. Laura was raised by her dad and had a very good relationship with him; besides, she's an adult. She might call me dad in time, but it doesn't bother me that she doesn't. I understand and I would probably feel the same way." David tried to call home again and still was unable to get through, so he called Laura. "Hi Laura, I haven't been able to get through either. I know that House is staying with her and that there isn't any electricity, but that's all I know at this point." He paused for a moment listening, "No, we're still several hours out. We're in Chicago and will fly to Philadelphia in a couple of hours. I'm driving the rest of the way." He paused again, "I will." He hung up the phone.

They placed their order and ate their meal in relative silence while they waited for their flight. Both were anxious to get home, but they were still at minimum 6 hours out. David had every intention of getting home tonight. It would be very late or very early tomorrow when they walked in the door, but they would at least be home.

MDMDMDMD

Susan woke up and looked around, "What time is it?" she asked.

House looked at his watch, "5:10"

"Why did you let me sleep so long?" she asked.

"Why, think you're going somewhere?" House asked. Susan looked annoyed at him, "There wasn't any reason to wake you up and after that stunt; you needed your rest. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," she answered.

"Good, 'cause I'm hungry," he answered.

Susan sat up and stared at the fire for a moment and then got up and padded to the kitchen. She rummaged around her cabinet and found some egg noodles and canned concentrated vegetable broth. She didn't have much meat in the house these days since Phillip had been diagnosed with his condition. She had bought what she needed for the lasagna they'd eaten last night. The sausage she had used this morning was left over from the lasagna ingredients. She didn't think Greg would be satisfied with just noodle soup. She thought about the contents of her refrigerator. She didn't want to open it until absolutely necessary. There was left over lasagna, but she didn't know how to heat it up over the fire without burning the bottom of it. When this was over, she should invest in a fireplace oven for just such emergencies. There were eggs and some fresh vegetables, other than that the refrigerator held mostly condiments and pickles. Greg wasn't much of a vegetable guy and he sure didn't like pickles. Well, he'd just have to do with soup tonight. She had a package of beans, so she'd soak them tonight and have them cook over the fire all day tomorrow if the electricity wasn't on by then. She had the ingredients for corn bread, but once again wasn't sure how to bake it over the fire. Maybe she could fry the batter up like a pancake. She knew there were recipes for that sort of thing, but she hadn't ever gone looking for them before; she'd have to think on that overnight. Tomorrow might just be a day of edible experimentation. She pulled out her stock pot and put the ingredients together for noodle soup and then lugged the pan into the living room. She placed the pot on the fireplace grill to start it cooking.

It was starting to get dark outside and as a result dark in the house. House gave up reading and meandered over to the piano. He didn't need to see to play. Susan gathered candles from around the house and brought them to the living room to provide a little extra light over what the fireplace was providing and busied herself cleaning up the mess they had created. He played a few songs while Susan straightened things up, "Why don't you stop cleaning for a minute and come over here," he said.

Susan walked his direction, stopping by the soup to stir it, and then stood by the piano.

"Sit down and play me something," he said. "And not a hymn; I've already heard you play several of those through your door yesterday."

Susan sat on the bench and House scooted over to give her room. She thought for a moment, "I don't have a large repertoire of memorized pieces." She thought for a few seconds longer and then turned up on corner of her mouth as she thought of something upbeat and light. Her right hand started with a very familiar melody, and then added her left hand. Before long her hands were dancing all over the keyboard playing Elite Syncopations by Scott Joplin.

When she finished, she looked over at House, "Satisfied?"

"Don't ever tell me that you're not any good again. You play very well."

"I just enjoy Scott Joplin, so I worked on that piece for a very long time. I can't hold a candle to you or Laura and I can't improvise anything. If it's not written down, I'm toast," Susan said. She got up to stir the soup. "I gave Laura lessons myself from the time she was three until about ten years old. After that, I wasn't comfortable with my skill level to keep teaching her and found a professional."

"Why do you play so many hymns?" he asked.

"The same reason you play so much blues, I suppose," Susan said. "The music speaks to me and I had to play for the congregation every Sunday and Wednesday when I was growing up, so the old hymns are very much stuck in my head." She stirred the soup one last time, and then went to the kitchen to get a ladle and a couple of bowls. She also brought back some bags of decaffeinated tea and a tea pot full of water to heat; her experience earlier having only reinforced her disgust of the taste of coffee.

MDMDMDMD

Taub looked at the final test results that Jason had provided and crossed off the last diagnostic possibility on his list, "We really need to conference with House."

"At least the swelling has gone down in his hand," Adams said.

"But it'll come right back if we can't find the cause," Park added.

"I guess for now, we'll just keep treating the symptoms," Taub said. "Switch him from topical steroids to intravenous. Maybe by the times the roads are cleared, he'll be well enough to go home and then he can come back for a full work up when House is here."

"So you're giving up?" Jason asked.

"No, we're treating him and we'll keep looking, but I'm out of ideas for the moment. I need to do some reading," Taub replied.

MDMDMDMD

Phillip practically ran down the stairs to the baggage claim area while David followed behind more slowly. David smiled at his son; it was still fun for him to watch the bags come out of the chute like magic. He walked up behind his son and then looked around. The car rental place was less than 20 feet away. He could stand in line and still watch his son from there, "Phillip, why don't you watch for our bags while I stand in line to rent a car. As soon as you have our bags, come join me in line."

"Okay," Phillip said happy to take on this responsibility alone.

David walked to Avis to stand in line and turned around so he could still watch Phillip. The baggage started coming out of the shoot and traveled around on the conveyor. Phillip looked at each bag as it passed by. People pushed around each other to get to their bags, but Phillip held his ground his attention focused intently on getting their luggage. Soon he saw his duffle bag and he waited for it to travel around to him. He picked it up as it started by and waited patiently for his dad's.

David inched up in line, still watching his son. He saw him reach for the second bag and head his direction.

"Got'em dad," he said when he joined David in line.

"I see that," David said.

"How long will it take us to get home?"

"In good weather, an hour, but don't be surprised if it takes several. It all depends on the roads," David answered.

"Where are you headed?" asked the neighboring person in line.

"Princeton," David answered.

"Oh, well you're in for a time then. The interstate is slow going, but fairly clear up to Ewing, but they haven't made much progress past that. You better rent a 4x4," she advised.

"That's what I was hoping for," David agreed.

MDMDMDMDMD

Jason was on his assigned sleep break from the lab, but was unable to rest. He wandered down to the cafeteria and discovered that the staff had prepared an unlimited array of sandwiches free of charge courtesy of Dr. Foreman who was trapped at the hospital with everybody else. Jason went through the line and picked up a couple of sandwiches with chips and a drink and found a table. It wasn't long before he was joined by a couple of night shift lab techs that he generally only saw during shift change. Of course the conversation very quickly latched onto Susan and her pregnancy, "You see her more than we do Jason, do you know how far along she is?"

"No," Jason said.

"I'm guessing about five months," one of the ladies said drawing from her personal experience.

"I wonder if she knows what it is?" the other one asked rhetorically.

Jason rolled his eyes with exasperation, "Excuse me," he said and left them to their gossip taking his plate with him. He wandered up to the conference room and sat down to finish his meal. Taub was sitting with several text books open around him. Jason pulled one of them over and started looking at the pages that Taub had open. He didn't get the correlation between the text and the patient's condition, so his eyes wandered to the white board that still had on it listed the tests and the accompanying diseases, "Doesn't House normally work through the symptoms to come to his conclusions?"

"Yes, but since he already has an idea, I thought it would work better to figure out what he was thinking when he ordered all the tests," Taub said.

"He obviously had a number of ideas because his testing requests were all over the board ruling out a lot of conditions," Jason argued. "I think we need to start over by listing the symptoms the way he usually does and go from there." Jason got up from where he was seated and using his phone, took a picture of the board. He erased the board and started listing out the symptoms that House had written previously and then sat down.

Taub got up and listed out the symptoms that appeared after House had left the hospital.

Park walked in the room and sat down with a veggie sandwich. She watched Taub write out the new symptoms as she took a bite. The conference room phone rang and she reached over and pressed the button to answer it, "Hello?"

The voice over the intercom was crackly and there was a lot of static, but it was obviously House, "You morons come up with anything for our patient yet?"

"Good to hear your voice, where are you?" Taub asked.

"Doesn't matter, how's the patient?" House asked.

"Much better," Park said. "We've been giving him steroids and he says he feels better than he has in a long time, and the swelling in his hand is gone."

"Of course he feels better, he's on steroids. What's the diagnosis?" House asked.

"We still don't know," Taub said. "We've been running through the tests you ordered to see what your ideas were."

"My ideas?" House asked. "That's not how you run a differential, you morons. Examine the symptoms."

"There haven't been any more symptoms; he's feeling better," Taub said.

"Because you're masking any additional symptoms with the steroids; wean him off and watch him. Call me when he changes," House ordered and hung up.

MDMDMDMD

Susan watched as House hung up his cell phone noting his frustration with his team. She was still not able to get through to David or Laura, but Greg had managed to get through to the hospital in a brief window of connectivity. "Do you want some more soup?" she asked. He handed her his bowl. She re-filled it and handed it back.

"Those morons were trying to figure out what I was thinking by running through the tests that I ordered instead of working through the symptoms," House said.

Susan lifted her eyebrows, "Really….that's an interesting way to do a differential."

"It's no way to do a differential. All that does is differential _my _brain," House complained, "Morons."

"Pretty dangerous venture," Susan said.

"What?"

"Differentialling your brain," Susan answered.

"Funny," he said.

Susan grinned at him and left for the kitchen. She came back with six brownies, 10 Nutter Butter cookies and 10 Oreos with several paper towels. She set them down on the table and divided everything up equally and put a paper towel between them. House reached for a brownie, "Uh uh," Susan said lightly slapping his hand. "Eat that and you won't have anything to bet with." She pulled out a deck of cards and shuffled, "What's your game?" she asked.

"Brownies and cookies?" Greg asked.

"You don't think I'm actually going to gamble with real money do you?" Susan asked.

"Well, yeah if you want it to mean anything."

"It doesn't mean anything, it's just a game," Susan said. "Besides, I don't have any cash on me at the moment and it's not like I can run out to the ATM. So, either brownies and cookies, or we find something else to do until we crash for the night."

"So what's their value?" House asked.

"Well, obviously the brownies are worth the most because I made them," Susan teased. "Which do you like best, Nutter Butters or Oreos?"

"Oreos, of course."

"OK then, Oreos have the second highest value," Susan said. She dealt out the hand and waited for her brother to make his first bet.

MDMDMDMD

"About how much longer do you think it will take to get there?" Phillip asked his dad.

"We're about half way in distance son, but there's no telling about time. The closer we get to Princeton, the worse the highway is getting," he said as he passed yet another abandoned vehicle on the side of the road. The number of abandoned cars was steadily increasing the closer he got to home. The storm had been over for nearly 24 hours and the road crews were working frantically. He'd been following a snow plow at a safe distance for the last half hour. He hoped it stayed on the highway so he could continue to follow it, but it was more likely that it would exit off to go the opposite direction when they hit the next county line. "Why don't you try to call home again?"

Phillip picked up his dad's cell phone and dialed the home phone number, "It's still just that fast busy signal dad."

"Try mom's cell," David answered.

"It's ringing!" he said.

"'bout time you called," the baritone voice said on the other end.

"We've been trying to call a lot Uncle Greg," Phillip said. "This is the first time we got through."

"Put the phone on speaker," House said.

Phillip pulled the phone away from his ear and punched the button to put it on speaker, "Ok Uncle Greg, it's on speaker."

"Where are you?" he asked.

"We're just now getting into Ewing," David said. "It's still quite slick on the interstate, so we're taking it fairly slow. Do we have electricity yet?"

"No," this answer came from Susan. David was relieved to hear her voice. "Hey babe," he said. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," Susan said. "We're camped out in the living room close to the fireplace and I'm currently taking Greg for all he's got. Hey! Eat your own winnings," she exclaimed to House when he stole her Oreo.

"They don't taste as good," Greg's voice said.

David laughed; it seemed that everything was fine at home, "OK, sounds like all is well there. I don't know how much longer we will be. It's pretty slow going."

"Just be safe," Susan said.

"Mom?"

"Yes Phillip?" Susan answered.

"What are you fixing for breakfast in the morning?"

"I'm not sure," Susan said. "I know we're having beans and cornbread for dinner. What do you want?"

"I don't know; anything as long as it isn't oatmeal," Phillip answered.

Susan laughed, "OK, no oatmeal. I'll think of something. Let's hang up the phone now so dad can concentrate on the road."

"OK," Phillip said and disconnected the line. "I'm glad it worked this time."

"Me too," David said.

MDMDMDMDMD

"Beans and cornbread?" House asked.

"Well, beans and something made of cornmeal. I haven't quite figured out how to bake the cornbread."

"Well, at least there'll be plenty of fuel for the fire," a sound erupting from his body that only accentuated his point.

"Really?" Susan asked. She harrumphed in disgust, "boys."

"Hey, it's a natural body function," House defended

"There are lots of natural body functions; but we don't do them in front of people," Susan argued back.

"You didn't have a problem with that earlier today."

"That was different," Susan said.

"Oh yeah, how so?"

Susan glared at him, "I could barely move I was so cold; you were _helping _me. Do you think I wanted you to see me like that? I'm your sister, not your wife!" Susan tossed down her cards and got up off the floor and moved to the chair sitting on it sideways with her back facing House.

House watched her get up off the floor with a rather perplexed looked on his face. He was just teasing her like he usually did. There wasn't any reason for her to get all bent out of shape, "Are you quitting the game?" he asked.

Susan didn't answer and wiped a tear from her cheek that had escaped. House sat down his cards and leaned back on the couch continuing to watch her as another tear escaped down her cheek. "Susan, I was just playing with you. Why the waterworks?"

"Because I'm stupid," Susan said.

House remained silent waiting for her to continue. After a few moments, it was obvious that wasn't going to happen without a little prodding. "OK, why are you stupid?" he asked.

"Phillip's clothes fit me, I should have gone up and got his snow suit and then you wouldn't have had to see me like that. I wasn't thinking," she answered.

House smirked to himself, she was embarrassed and hormonal; generally not a good combination for keeping her emotions on an even keel. "If you don't get down here and make your bet, I'm going to eat all your winnings."

Susan sniffed and got up from the chair and moved back to the floor to pick up her cards, "I'll see your two oreos and raise you two Oreos and two Nutter Butters," she said placing the cookies in the center of the coffee table between them.

"I didn't see anything Susan, I closed my eyes during that part," House said softly as he stared at his cards. "Your dignity is intact." He studied his cards, "Call," he said putting down his cards and matching his bet with her raise. Susan put down her cards showing she had absolutely nothing, as he knew she was. She'd been trying to bluff him, but he knew her too well for that to work which rather ruined the fun of the game. He gathered all the cookies to his side of the table. "How about I show you an old fried cornbread recipe my mother learned when dad was stationed down south?"


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Jason walked in the patient's room to get another blood sample. The patient was curled up on his side in obvious abdominal pain. There was no way he would be able to take a sample with the patient like that, so he headed to the nurses' station and paged Dr. Taub. The nurses rushed to the patient's room and managed to get there just as the patient started vomiting. Taub followed shortly and ordered the nurses to start the patient on anti-emetics for the nausea and morphine for the pain. Jason walked back in the room and made preparations to take the blood sample when Taub started arguing with the nurses outside the room, "I told you to wean him off the steroids, not take him off cold turkey."

"We have weaned him off, he's still on a low dose now," the nurse countered.

"Then why would he react like that?" Taub asked.

Jason moved to the side of the bed and glanced at the IV bag. The nurse was correct in that the IV was a lower dosage of the steroid. He asked the patient, "Are you feeling any better?"

"Some yes," he answered. "I was feeling so much better than usual and then you took me off that medicine and now the pain has come back."

"What pain?" Jason asked. "I mean other than your hand."

"My belly always hurts some, but lately it's been hurting a lot," he answered.

"Why didn't you tell the doctors?" Jason asked.

"I didn't think it was important. Do you think it is?" the patient asked.

"You never know what is important or not, so it's always a good idea to let us know everything just in case it's related," Jason explained. "When do you notice that the abdominal pain hurts the most?" Jason continued his conversation with the patient as Taub dismissed the nurse and left for the conference room to call House.

MDMDMDMD

"The nurses swear they didn't take the patient off the steroids cold turkey," Taub was explaining to House on the phone when Jason walked in the door.

"It wouldn't matter, the patient wasn't on the steroids long term enough to cause that big of a reaction," House's voice said from the conference speaker phone.

"Dr. House?" Jason inquired. He waited and listened to the silence on the other end.

Finally the voice spoke again, "Are you going to say something or not?"

"Sorry, I was waiting to…..," Jason started.

"Don't care, what were you going to ask?" House asked.

"I was going to ask if Crones disease could cause neutrophilic dermatosis ," Jason said.

Taub answered, "No, they're two completely unrelated….."

"In rare cases, yes," House interrupted. "Why do you think he has crones?"

"Because he mentioned feeling better than he had in a long time while he was getting the steroids and I asked him about it. When he started telling me about it, I realized it sounded a lot like my grandmother and she has Crones."

"Get a biopsy and confirm. Start the patient back on steroids," House said and hung up.

Taub looked at Jason, "You scored points; let's go get the biopsy."

MDMDMD

Susan smiled to herself. Jason had done well; she was proud of him. She'd make sure to tell him when she got back to work.

"Quit smiling; he got lucky because he recognized the symptoms from his grandmother," House said.

"He got lucky because he paid attention where your fellows didn't," Susan said. "I told you he would be good."

"Still don't need him," House said as he mixed the cornmeal in with the flour.

"Regardless, you have a lot of work to do with your team," Susan said. "Taub usually works better than this."

"He and Chase bounce off of each other a lot and it helps both of them, which helps me," House said. "I need Chase back. Pull out the milk, butter, and eggs and some cheddar cheese."

"So pin him down," Susan said. "Go to his apartment and flat out ask him when he's coming back." She went to the refrigerator to get the items, "I think I need to put some of this outside. It's not very cool in here."

"It'll freeze outside. Go scoop some snow in a cooler and bring it inside. I don't think Chase wants to come back," House said.

"Yes he does, he just doesn't realize it yet," Susan said setting down the items within House's reach.

"He hasn't accepted my apology," House said.

"Give him time," Susan said as she walked out into the garage to find the cooler. She walked by the back door and saw her coat on the floor. She picked it up; it was still wet. She sat it back down and continued to the other side of the garage to where the cooler was stored. She shivered with cold as she grabbed the cooler and headed back toward the kitchen. She opened the back door and as she did so, House opened the door between the kitchen and the garage, "Relax, I'm only going far enough to scoop snow into the cooler." House turned around and went back into the kitchen, but left the door open behind him. Susan filled the cooler with snow and brought it back in, grabbed her coat and carried everything inside.

MDMDMDMDMD

David was traveling along the interstate at a mere 20 miles per hour. It was so slick, he didn't dare go any faster, four-wheel drive or not. They had finally made it passed Ewing and the next town on the horizon was home. _Fourteen more miles_, he thought to himself. He glanced at his speedometer and did a mental calculation. At this speed they should be home in just under an hour. It was pitch black outside; his headlights glaring off of the snow banks on either side of the single lane the crews had managed to clear. Phillip had leaned his seat back and dozed off thirty minutes earlier. This was all a big adventure to him, but sitting in one place for so long had finally worked its magic and lulled him off to sleep. David took a big breath and focused on the road.

MDMDMDMDMD

Susan finished rinsing the beans and put them in the stock pot covered with water to soak overnight. "Mother always started them cooking the same morning," House said.

"And that would be why you associate beans with 'plenty of fuel'," Susan said. "Soak them overnight and drain the soaking water the next morning before you start cooking them and it helps cut down on 'fuel issues'."

House finished preparing the dough for the fried cornbread. He made up three patties and headed to the fireplace. Susan followed behind with the fry pan, a spatula and some oil. Once at the fireplace, House put the pan on the grill, added the oil and when it was hot enough, added the cornmeal patties. It wasn't long before they were both munching on the treat.

"OK, I'm sold," Susan said as she swallowed her last bite. She got up and went to the kitchen to cover the rest of the dough and placed it in the cooler to keep overnight. Back in the living room, House was already stretched out on the couch. Susan looked at the chair where she had been sleeping and then glanced to the floor. Decision made, she headed upstairs.

"Where are you going?" House said.

"Attic," Susan said and disappeared.

House heard her traipsing around overhead and things being shuffled around. It wasn't long before he heard her exclaim, "Sweet." He wondered what she was so excited about and he didn't have to wait long to find out. Susan came downstairs carrying a bedroll. She unrolled it and made up her bed on the floor. The last thing she did was to place the coffee and the water in a place on the grill where it would stay warm. David and Phillip would be home soon and she wanted to have something warm for them to drink.

"Would you settle down?" House admonished.

"I'm finished, I just wanted to….," she started.

"Hush," House interrupted and closed his eyes.

Susan looked over at him and smiled. She lay down on the floor and drifted off to sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

David exited off the interstate into Princeton. It was very dark without the streetlamps. Ahead he could see some very bright spot lights where the electric crews were working to restore power. He felt sorry for them knowing that they were working very long shifts. The city crews were out in the streets as well toiling to get the roads passable. It seemed that they had completed the main roads and were now focusing on the secondary roads before they hit the residential areas. He hoped he would at least be able to get to the end of their street.

MDMDMDMD

The lights dimmed for a moment and came back on at full power for about thirty seconds and then dimmed back down. Everybody paused waiting to see what would happen next; when nothing more happened everybody went back to work. "What do you suppose that was?" Jason asked over the noise in the lab of all the alarms on the instruments indicating a power issue. Lab techs were scurrying around to each instrument shutting off the alarms and making sure that analysis continued. A couple of exclamations were heard from the back of the lab where the power interruption had stopped the hematology instrument causing the techs to have to start over.

"The generators shut off momentarily and then came back on. I'd say the power crews are close to getting us up and running again and enough power came through the lines to trigger the generators to turn off, but it didn't stay on so the generators came back on." He yawned, "I'll be glad when this is over; I'm ready to go home." Jason nodded in agreement and went to the back of the lab to help the techs in hematology.

MDMDMDDM

David worked his way through town at a snail's pace and finally made it to the end of their block. The city crews hadn't made it to their street yet. "Phillip?"

Phillip woke up, "Are we home?"

"We're at our street," David answered.

"Wow," Phillip said looking at the snow covering the street. "Can we even get down the street?"

"No. The snow is too deep even for a four wheel drive," David answered. "I'm going to turn in and get off the road as far as I can and we'll have to hike to the house. Get your coat, gloves and hat on. Leave your stuff here." Phillip put on his coat and David pulled the collar up around his neck and made sure his hat was covering his ears. "I want you to slide out behind me on the driver's side and stay right behind me. I'll break a path through the snow and you follow in my tracks. You shouldn't get too wet that way," David explained.

"What about you?" Phillip said.

"I'll be fine," David said, "Just do as I say." Both dressed as warmly as possible, they climbed out of the SUV and started their trek down the street, David locking the door before shoving his hands in his pocket. He looked down the street and for the first time wished they didn't live at the far end of a cul-de-sac. The snow absorbed the sounds in the neighborhood making the evening very quiet. Between the silence and the darkness it was almost spooky.

"Boy, the stars sure are bright tonight," Phillip said.

"You can just see them better because the lights are out. The light pollution usually makes it hard to see all but the very brightest," David explained as he chose his path down the street. "Stay right behind me son."

"I am," Phillip answered. After trudging through three house lengths, David stopped for a breather. "Are you OK dad?"

"I'm fine, just resting for a moment. The snow is deep and breaking a path is hard work. I am way too out of shape," David said.

"You haven't gone to the gym since you and mom got married," Phillip observed.

"That's about to change," David acknowledged. He continued his trek, his son following in his footsteps.

MDMDMDMD

Susan turned over for the third time in the last half hour. Finally, she sat up and went to look out the front window. She couldn't see anything beyond her own yard. She sighed and sat in the chair, "You know pacing and watching out the window isn't going to bring them home any faster," House said.

"I know," Susan said. "I can't rest knowing they are on the road."

House sighed and then sat up, "Come over here and sit down." Susan sat down and curled up on the corner of the couch. "What do you want to talk about?" he asked.

"Small talk?" Susan asked. "You don't do small talk."

"I didn't say I was going to listen," he replied.

Susan smiled, leaned her head into the arm of the sofa and tried to relax. After a few moments she asked, "Do you ever hear from Dominique?"

"No," House said.

"Do you want to?"

"She's busy with her own life and I have mine," he answered.

"You didn't answer my question," Susan said.

"Deflection is my core competency," House replied.

"No argument there," Susan said. "Do you know where she is?"

"Somewhere in Atlantic City."

"Greg, is she really a prostitute?"

"No," he answered. "I met her when I was in that hotel right after Cuddy broke up with me. She worked in the hotel as a masseuse and gave me a massage. The whole time she wouldn't shut up about how unfair immigration was and that she was going to have to go back to her country if she couldn't find a way to stay. I was still high on Vicoden and booze and so I offered to marry her so she could stay in the country and I could relax and enjoy the massage without her continuous blabbering."

"And it was a convenient way to get back at Cuddy. You don't even care about her; why are you helping her?"

"You're the one always talking about helping people," Greg said.

"I'm not generally referring to helping them defraud the government," Susan said. "You know if immigration finds out, you could go back to jail."

"At this point anything I do risks putting me back in jail," House said. "Foreman enjoys reminding me of that on a regular basis."

"Greg, I can't bear the thought of you going back to jail, so please don't do anything to screw it up," Susan said. "I want you here when I deliver. I want this baby to know his uncle from the day he is born."

"I'm not planning on going anywhere," he answered.

A noise erupted from the porch and Susan jumped up and practically ran to the door and threw it open. David and Phillip were on the porch stomping to knock the snow off of their clothes and shoes before coming inside. That finished they walked in and Susan threw her arms around David, "I'm so glad you're home," she said.

"I'll have to leave on trips more often if it means I get welcomed home like that," David laughed. "Honey, I'm getting you soaked. Let me get out of these clothes," he said as he pealed her off of him. Susan stepped back and let him take off his coat. She moved over to Phillip and helped him out of his coat then took both of them to hang over her bathtub with hers to dry. When she came into the bedroom from the bathroom, David was slipping on a pair of pajama bottoms and fresh socks to sleep in. She went over to him and he stood up and put his arms around her, "I missed you," he said. He bent down and kissed her tightening his arms around her and pulling her into him so she could feel just how much. He felt her grin into his kiss and he also felt her shiver with the cold. "Come on, it's cold in here." He led her out of the bedroom and shut the door behind him. When David and Susan arrived in the living room, Phillip was already changed and downstairs with his guitar showing his uncle the newest chord he had just learned. He strummed the guitar and the reverberation about turned Susan's ears inside out. Greg quickly reached over and moved his index finger on the first fret from the G string to the B string and the chord resolved. Phillip's face turned red, "Oops," he said and looked up as his parents entered the room. Quickly he averted his eyes his face turning even redder.

House had been watching Phillip, but looked up when he saw Phillip turn away so quickly. It didn't take a half moment for him to see what had Phillip so embarrassed, so unable to resist he said, "Looks like something else is happy too."

David didn't skip a beat, "He knows when he's close to home."

The double meaning there was obvious to all the adults, but flew right over the top of Phillip's head who immediately chimed in, "Boy I'm glad mine doesn't do that every time I come home." Susan bit her bottom lip and immediately turned on her heal and headed into the kitchen.

David sat down on the chair effectively masking his issue which was quickly becoming a non-issue, "Me too son," he said hiding his amusement. House smirked, but fortunately decided not to add any further to the conversation. "Phillip," David said, "put your guitar away. It's time to get ready for bed."

"It's cold in my room," Phillip said.

"We're all sleeping in here tonight," David explained. "Bring your blankets and pillow with you when you come back down."

House stretched his legs out along the length of the couch when Phillip got up. Susan having regained most her composure came back into the living room bearing four mugs and several packages of instant hot chocolate. "Do you guys want coffee or hot chocolate?"

David look at his wife, who had obviously been laughing so hard her eyes were still watery. He grinned at her, "I'll have coffee."

She looked over at House whose eyes were still dancing with amusement. He nodded agreement, so Susan knelt down in front of the fireplace and poured each of them a cup. When Phillip came back in the room, Susan was opening a package of hot chocolate mix. "Would you like some hot chocolate Phillip?" she asked.

"Sure!" he said excitedly then saw his mom's face and sobered. "Mom, have you been crying?"

"No," Susan said. "My eyes are just a little watery right now."

"Maybe you shouldn't be so close to the fire place," Phillip offered. "We had a campfire at camp this week and the smoke kept making my eyes water."

"Maybe you're right," Susan agreed still working hard at staying composed. Everyone was quiet as they worked on their drinks positive that if anybody said anything that the adults would all have coffee or hot chocolate coming out of their nose. After a few moments, David had Phillip help him move the coffee table behind the couch and Susan moved her bedroll further from the fireplace. David put down a couple of blankets on the floor next to Susan and Phillip made his bed between Susan and the fireplace. Soon all of them were settled for the night.

"Goodnight mom," Phillip said.

"Goodnight Phillip," Susan answered.

"Goodnight Dad," Phillip said.

"Goodnight Phillip," David said.

"Goodnight Uncle Greg," Phillip said.

House rolled his eyes, "Goodnight John Boy."

David and Susan chuckled quietly. All was silent for a few moments and then out of the darkness, "Who's John Boy?"

House groaned and then said, "Go to sleep Phillip."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Taub, Park and Adams were in the conference room reading or doing paperwork when Jason walked in and sat down. Taub passed over the latest issue of JAMA, "Need something to read?" Jason took the journal and started perusing through it. He found an article with an interesting title and started reading.

"So, are you joining our team now?" Park asked him.

"I guess," Jason said. "Susan wants me to interact more with you, and she's the boss."

"But do you want to?" Adams asked.

Jason thought for a moment, "Yeah, I think I would like that. This week has been interesting."

"You think you can handle House?" Taub asked.

"Honestly, I don't know," Jason said.

"Then you'll do fine," Taub said.

MDMDMDMDMD

House lay on the couch facing the family sleeping on the floor. Well, at least lying on the floor. Phillip was asleep, but Susan and David were not. Susan was facing David and he was gently caressing her face and hair, occasionally giving her a gentle kiss here and there. Susan's eyes were closed for the moment, but when she opened them House could see how deep her love was for the man that was holding her. House felt a pang of jealousy that his sister could find that kind of satisfaction in life and he couldn't. He squelched it and put it aside. He was glad she had found someone. David was a good man and would take good care of her. Susan looked his direction and saw him watching them. He winked at her and she smiled in return. He knew they wouldn't carry their activities any further tonight, but he turned over and faced the back of the couch to give them their privacy.

David watched his wife shift her gaze and saw her smile behind him. He heard House turn over and glanced back to see he was facing away. He faced his wife again and leaned his head toward her. They quietly kissed and then Susan turned to face away. David spooned up behind her, his desire for her once again pressed against her body. Susan reached and found his hand and brought it up to her chest holding him close to her telling him that she wanted him too. They lay under the covers quietly like that for a while until David moved his hand to adjust their sleepwear to his liking. He couldn't make love to her in this public venue, but he could feel at least some of her skin next his and this would have to do for now.

Deep inside Susan's body the baby woke up. He had been lulled to sleep earlier by his mother's movements, but now he was awake. He stretched his tiny body and made some kicking motions. He flipped over and kicked again. Soon he was turning somersaults, not that he knew what those were, but they were fun. He stretched his arms and brought them back his hand hitting his face. There was something new, he moved his hand over his face and discovered his thumb which ended up in his mouth. He twisted around again and kicked for good measure.

Susan reached again for David's hand, took his first two fingers and placed them just over the place where she felt their son move. She put her fingers on top of David's and pressed in fairly hard not knowing if David would be able to feel the movement or not. It was still a bit early.

Suddenly the wall crashed inward. The baby couldn't turn somersaults anymore. He kicked at the wall; it didn't move. He kicked again and again and again until he got tired and quit. Finally the wall moved, but he was too tired for more somersaults and went back to sleep.

David felt the light tapping on the tips of his fingers for a few moments before it stopped. He smiled into Susan's neck and wrapped his arms tight around her, "I love you," he whispered and faded off to sleep.

MDMDMDMDMD

Three hours later and a half mile away an electric crew made the last connection on the transformer station restoring power to the remaining southeastern side of the township. Streetlamps came on and signs flashed to life. Street crews in the area sighed with relief as they could finally see what they were doing with more than just the headlights on their vehicles. The electric crew put their gear away and headed back to the station.

MDMDMDMDMD

The lights flickered in the hospital and came on at full strength. The conference room computer beeped as it powered back up as it was not deemed critical to have been hooked into the hospital generators. Jason yawned and Taub told him to go to the interns lounge and crash for the rest of the night. Park volunteered to stay up to watch the patient so Taub and Adams could rest.

In the lab, the night supervisor walked around the lab to check on the crew. Some of them had worked 18 hours straight and he told them to clock out and rest for a few hours. Hopefully the roads would be clear enough by morning he could send them all home. He was exhausted, so he told them to wake him if they needed anything. He went into Susan's office and lay down on the sofa that had magically showed up several weeks ago. Briefly he wondered where it had come from, but then decided he didn't care. It was really comfortable.

MDMDMDMDMD

David woke up when heard the heater and central air kick on. He looked over at the fireplace, the fire was dying down, but now that the electricity was on he decided to let it go. The house was still dark and there were still a few hours until morning. He relaxed his hold on Susan and moved back a notch knowing that now that the heater was working again, that she would get too hot with him right against her. He closed his eyes and drifted back asleep – at least for a couple of hours.

Susan woke up with a startled cry and sat straight up reaching for her calf in her right leg. All three men startled awake. "Mom! What's wrong?" Phillip cried out not understanding.

"Cramp," the three adults said in unison. David threw the cover back and started working her calf.

"How long has the electricity been on?" House asked.

"About three hours," David answered as he continued to massage Susan's calf.

"Should be plenty of hot water then; I'm going to take a shower," he said as he worked himself into a sitting position to stand up.

"Please do," Susan teased through gritted teeth.

"Oh hush," he replied, "like you smell of sweet flowers." He walked out of the room leaving David to deal with Susan's cramp.

"Why's he leaving?" Phillip asked still concerned about Susan. "Mom needs help."

"I'm ok Phillip," Susan said leaning back on her hands. The cramp was starting to ease, but she could tell she was going to be pretty sore for a couple of days. "This is a normal part of pregnancy and there isn't anything he can do that your dad isn't already doing."

David finished working out the cramp, "How's that feel?"

"As good as it is going to. Phillip, help me up. I need to walk around," Susan said as she glanced over at David with a wink. Phillip scrambled up and helped her to her feet. He put her arm over his shoulder and walked her around until she was barely limping. "That's great. Thank you," she said when they were finished.

"Now you can go get dressed," David said. "We've got work to do." David picked up their blankets and pillows from the floor and took them to the bedroom. He stopped by the restroom and while he was in there, noticed the three coats hanging over the bathtub. Susan's coat was still sopping wet. It was the wrong kind of coat. He'd told her at the beginning of the winter season to get an appropriate coat for New Jersey winters. Obviously she hadn't done that and had worn this coat outside, probably to get more wood. Finished in the bathroom, he started to head to the garage, when he thought for a moment and detoured to the laundry. As he suspected, Susan's jeans and sweatshirt were also soaked. He went to the living room where House had flipped on the television, "Why did you let her?" he asked.

House looked at him and not knowing what he was referring to; decided to answer with a generic answer, "Because she can make decisions for herself."

"Just because she can, doesn't mean she should," David argued. "She's pregnant."

"Being pregnant doesn't make her stupid," House countered.

"But being around you, sometimes does," David said starting to argue irrationally.

"You're the one that asked me to stay," House said it beginning to dawn on him that David had figured out that Susan had gone outside for a while.

"Because she would have done something more stupid if you'd gone home, and you knew that," David said with his voice getting louder.

Susan was in the kitchen mixing up a batch of pancakes when she heard the men starting to argue. She listened for a moment and then walked in the living room just as David finished his last statement. House saw her come in to the room. David saw House looking behind him and turned to see Susan standing in the doorway. She said nothing. Her eyes were blazing. She turned around and went back into the kitchen.

"Smooth," House said with sarcasm and turned back toward the television.

David followed Susan into the kitchen, "Susan..."

"Don't," Susan ordered. She finished mixing the batter and turned on the stove to heat the pan. She continued worked in silence. Finally David turned around and went back in the living room and sat down to watch whatever House had turned on.

Phillip came downstairs and walked through to the kitchen, "Pancakes," he said, "Yum"

Susan smiled at him, "You said no oatmeal."

"Every morning we had scrambled eggs with sausage and oatmeal, so all I could eat was the oatmeal. And, it wasn't very good oatmeal either," Phillip explained. "Dad said that next year he would have you send them some recipes."

"Sure," Susan said.

"Mom, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Susan answered. "Go set the table for me please and then call your father and Uncle Greg to the table."

Phillip went to do as he was told while Susan finished the last of the pancakes. She went to the refrigerator and pulled out a bag of sliced strawberries that she had transferred from the freezer to the refrigerator as it had started thawing as well as a container of whipped cream. The men came into the kitchen as she finished setting the food. They sat around the table and looked at each other. The tension was thick. Phillip, not knowing what was going on, offered to say the blessing. That complete, House and Phillip dug in. David took several pancakes and started eating in silence.

"These are good mom," Phillip said with his mouth full. He swallowed, "Aren't you eating?"

Susan pulled a single pancake off the stack, "Don't talk with your mouth full." She added some strawberries and cream to her pancake and slowly started her meal. She was about half-way through her pancake when House reached for the last one.

"Susan, I'm sorry," David said.

"I said don't," Susan answered.

Phillip put his fork down and looked back and forth at his mom and dad, "Are you guys fighting?"

"Not yet," House offered. "But things are about to explode."

"Phillip, are you finished?" David asked.

"Yes sir," Phillip answered swallowing his last bite.

"Go put on your snow suit and go out into the garage to get the snow shovel and start working on the driveway."

"The snow shovel is in the back yard," Susan said.

"Why is it in the back yard?" Phillip asked.

"Because I'm stupid," Susan said looking straight at David.

"And here it comes," House said getting up from the table and heading to the living room. He motioned for Phillip to follow him out of the kitchen.

"You're not stupid," David said when Phillip left the room.

"Apparently I am; and apparently I'm even more stupid when I'm around my brother," Susan said.

"That's not what I meant," David said.

"Then learn to say what you mean," Susan said. She got up from the table and began clearing it away.

David stood up and took his plate to the sink, "You had no business going outside, especially in that coat you brought from Texas. I told you to get a more appropriate coat last October."

"We needed wood," Susan countered, "and I haven't had time to go buy another coat."

"You mean you didn't want to take the time," David said, "just like you haven't bothered to take the time to get yourself some decent maternity clothes."

"I was going to go this weekend with Laura," Susan argued back.

"And that would have been fine except she couldn't come down. You should have already gotten yourself something, even if it was only one or two outfits until she was able to come like I told you. But no, you had to do it your own way. You always have to do it your way, you never listen to me," David said.

"That's not true," Susan said. "I listen."

"And then you ignore," David said. "You don't care anything about what I want. It's all about you."

"That's not fair," Susan said. "I care about you."

"That's not what I said. See you won't even listen," David argued.

"This is pointless," Susan said. "You're not even staying on topic. You're mad because I went outside to get wood. Well, I'm sorry, but we needed wood. Greg was asleep and I couldn't ask him to go out and get it and it's not like I'm an invalid. I'm just pregnant. And if it makes you feel any better, Greg crawled my case about it when I got back inside. At least he had the decency to say what I had done was stupid and not imply that I was stupid." Susan left the kitchen and walked to their bedroom.

David followed behind and shut the door, "We're not done."

"Yes we are," Susan said. "I'm going to take a shower now. You're not invited." She went in the bathroom and shut the door. David stood outside the bathroom door staring at it. He heard the water start to run and then turned and left the room.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Phillip walked in to the garage from the back yard with the snow shovel. He went over to the garage door to open it and pulled it up as hard as he could. It wouldn't open. He went inside the house and found House sitting on the couch talking to his team. House saw him and hung up, "Where's dad?"

"He just followed Susan into their room," House answered.

"Are they still fighting?"

"Seems that way," House said. "Why did you need your dad?"

"I can't get the garage door to open," Phillip said.

House got up from the couch, grabbed his coat and followed Phillip to the garage. He went to the garage door and found it was frozen shut. House looked around and found a hammer. He gave it to Phillip and told him to go out the front and break the ice from around the garage door. Phillip left the room and soon House heard him climbing over the mounds of ice covered snow around the front of the house. "I can't reach it Uncle Greg!" Phillip hollered through the door. "Can you just bring me the shovel?"

House sighed and grabbed the snow shovel and took it through the house. When he opened the door, he handed the shovel to Phillip and then closed the door. He went back into the garage because as he had traipsed through the garage, he noticed a snow blower and wondered why David had told Phillip to use the shovel when they had a snow blower. He pulled it away from the wall and checked the gas level. It was full. He wondered how long it had been sitting.

"I couldn't get it to start this winter," David said just entering the garage.

"So the gas in here…?"

"Has been there since November," David said.

That wasn't too long. House primed the pump, set the choke and pulled the chord. Nothing. He looked around the garage and found a stool. "Where are your tools?" he asked.

David grabbed his tool box and took it over to House, "I'm not very handy so these haven't gotten much use."

House opened the box and selected the socket he needed and set to work. David knelt down to watch, "I shouldn't have yelled at you," he said.

"You're right," House said.

"She said you were asleep when she went outside, so you didn't know."

"Nope," House said.

"She also said you crawled her case when she came back in," David went on.

"Yep," House said. "Get me a can or something to drain the gas into."

David stood up and found an empty fuel container. He handed it to House who had disconnected the fuel hose from the gas tank to the engine so House could drain the fuel. Once that was complete, he continued taking the engine apart.

"So what happened?" David asked.

"Sounds like to me she already told you," House said.

"There's more to it than that," David said.

"Why do you say that?" House asked.

"I can just tell," David said.

"Then I guess you need to work that out with her," House said. House smiled as he found the issue. He fixed the problem and put the engine back together. He put the gas back in the snow blower and started the engine.

"What was wrong?" David asked over the noise of the engine.

"Clogged artery," House said. He got up and went back into the house.

David went over to the garage door to open it and found he couldn't. He went back over to the snow blower and turned it off so he wouldn't poison his family with carbon monoxide and went through the house to the front so he could break the door free.

MDMDMDMDMD

Susan was sitting in the bottom of the bathtub letting the hot water run over the top of her. She thought about what David had said that she never listened to him and did whatever she wanted. He was upset with her about going out to get the wood, but that was just the catalyst. He was upset or maybe just frustrated with her over several things, but they were all themed the same. She didn't listen and did whatever she wanted. But she did listen; she just didn't always act on it right then. She really was going to get a new coat; she just hadn't gotten to it yet – the same thing with the maternity clothes. She thought about the other things like him wanting to put the baby furniture together, but her hesitating and him going through names and her not really saying what she liked and what she didn't. In fact, she hadn't even told him that she wanted their son's middle name to be Gregory after her brother. She hadn't told him anything. She really wasn't being fair. He was excited about the baby and she was squelching it all because of her own fears; fears that she had just bottled up inside hadn't really even shared with him. He was right; she was acting like she didn't care and that was selfish.

Susan stood up and finished her shower. When she came out of her room, only Greg was in the house. David and Phillip were both outside working. "Did he say anything to you?" Susan asked.

"He apologized," House said.

"I'm sorry you got caught in the middle," Susan said. "It wasn't your fault; I was the one being stupid."

"As you said, we needed wood. But if you'd said something we could have worked it out together. You don't have to do things by yourself anymore. By the way, I fixed your snow blower," House said.

"Thanks," Susan said. "That should speed things up out front."

"Well, it will as soon as they manage to get the door open. Its frozen shut," House said.

Susan went into the kitchen to start the beans cooking so they would be ready that evening. Since they had electricity, she put the beans in the slow cooker, but she thought that just for fun, they would go ahead and cook the cornmeal patties over the fire. Phillip would get a kick out of that. Maybe later they could pop some popcorn in the fireplace as well. The outside garage door opened and Susan heard the snow blower start up. She started the coffee maker and heated up some water in the tea pot so they could have something warm to drink when they came in and then headed down the hall to start the laundry. After getting the laundry started she headed upstairs to clean the upstairs bathroom.

Two hours later, she was in their bedroom folding laundry when David walked in with a cup of coffee. His face was red from the cold, but the rest of him was fine. "Finished clearing the driveway and we dug out House's car," he said.

"That's good," Susan answered.

"He can't go anywhere though, the city still hasn't gotten to our street yet," he said.

Susan arched her back to stretch it and sat down on the bed to fold the smaller things, "Are you hungry?" she asked as she folded a hand towel. "I've got beans cooking, but they won't be ready for a few more hours."

"Not really. Phillip is fixing himself a tomato sandwich," he said. "House helped himself to the rest of the brownies."

Susan sighed and put the towel down.

"Are you OK?" David asked.

"I'm fine," Susan said. She was quiet for a moment, "I'm sorry you think I don't care about what you say. It's not true, I do care. I just…..I don't know."

"I don't think you're stupid," David said.

"I know," Susan said.

"You are one of the most intelligent people I know. It's just that you're so stubborn about taking care of everybody else that you think you have to do everything yourself. You just don't think things through sometimes. You had no business being out in the cold without the right gear. You're not used to this kind of weather. I knew you'd do something like that which is why I asked House to stay. If he hadn't stayed, I knew you would try to get out in the weather to make sure he was OK or to get back to the hospital to take care of your patient. You care about others so much that you don't ever stop to think about yourself or what you are doing to yourself. You can't even bring yourself to go buy some clothes, and you need them." David set his coffee down on the bedside table and put his arm around her, "I love the way you care about others, but I also want you to care about yourself. I didn't mean that you don't care about me, I know you do. I also know that you don't ignore me. Everything that I've asked you to do that you've haven't done has been something you needed to do for yourself. You can't get past the fact that it's ok to think of yourself once and a while."

"Greg told me the same thing," Susan said.

"Well, if the two most important men in your life are telling you the same thing, why can't you accept it?" David asked.

Susan shook her head, "I don't know."

David pulled her close and kissed her on the temple, "It's ok; we'll figure it out together." He lifted her chin with his hand and bent down to kiss her. "I love you so much," he said when he was finished. David stood up and picked up his coffee cup before heading out the door. Susan picked up the next item of clothing to fold it and then set it back down.

"David?" David turned back. "Would it be OK if I hired a house keeper? I mean, I know I can do all of this myself, but…"

"Of course you can," David interrupted knowing that asking for this was very hard for her, but it was a step in the right direction. "Do you have anyone in mind?"

"No. I just thought I would hire one of those services to come once a week if it was ok," Susan said.

"Not a service. We'll call Aileen," David said.

"Aileen?"

"She was our housekeeper before you and I married. She told me that 'my little lady' probably wouldn't want her messing with her stuff. I told her that was nonsense, but she insisted. Phillip was devastated when she left. She was like a grandma to him and spoiled him to death," David explained. "She'll be thrilled to come back. In fact, if you decide you want to go back to work after the baby is born, she'd be a great nanny.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

"How are things?" Susan asked the night supervisor when she called.

"We're doing OK. The electricity came back on during the night and the maintenance crew has cleared the parking lot. Folks are slowly starting to come in to work, so as folks are arriving, I'm letting others go home if they can get there safely."

"How about you, can you get home safely?" Susan asked.

"Yes. My wife called me this morning and said that our street had been cleared so I should be able to make it home ok," he answered.

"Then why don't you?" Susan asked.

"I don't want to leave them without a supervisor," he said.

"They'll be fine; go home," Susan said. "As soon as the city gets our street cleared, I'll come in and now that the phones are working, if there are any issues they can call. Has Jason gone home yet?"

"Yes, he left a couple of hours ago," the supervisor confirmed. "Dr. Taub told me he did well. I hope Dr. House realizes that."

"He does," Susan acknowledged. "I'll talk to you later." She closed her cell phone and put it in her pocket. She took the lid off of the crock pot and stirred the beans. Another couple of hours and they would be done.

"I don't want you driving," David said responding to her conversation with the supervisor.

"I have a jeep with 4-wheel drive; I'll be fine." Susan said.

"Don't care," David said.

"Then you drive me," Susan offered. "You need to take the rental to the airport to drop it off and pick up your own car anyway. You can drop me off at the hospital on your way to Newark and then pick me up when you come back."

"It's all moot anyway," House interjected walking into the kitchen. "At least until they get your street cleared. How much longer on dinner?"

"A couple of hours," Susan said. House grimaced and started perusing through the refrigerator. He found an apple in the fruit bin and took a bite.

"How long are you staying in there Uncle Greg?" Phillip cried from the living room.

"Excuse me while I go whip your son's butt again," he said and headed out of the kitchen.

Soon the sounds of squealing tires and trash talk emitted from the living room as House and Phillip raced each other on a video game. Susan smiled toward the living room; Greg may not think he was any good with children, but he really was.

"Probably because he never grew up," David said reading her thoughts.

"Yeah, probably not," Susan said. She took the bowl with the cornmeal mix that Greg had mixed up the night before and pressed out several patties.

"What are those?" David asked.

"It's a fried cornbread recipe that Greg showed me last night. I thought we would cook them over the fireplace to have with the beans tonight," Susan explained. "Phillip would probably enjoy that. We'll give the beans another hour and then we'll start frying the cornmeal patties."

Susan turned to leave the kitchen when David gently grabbed her arm and pulled her back into him and wrapped his arms around her. "Does it upset you that I don't want you to drive?" he asked.

"No," Susan said. "I understand. I've only lived through a couple of New Jersey winters and the last two really haven't had much bad weather, so I don't have a lot of winter weather driving experience. However, you should know that back home we've had some pretty nasty ice storms that I've driven on, so I'm not a complete naiveté."

"Back home? This is your home," David said.

"Yes, I meant back where I spent the majority of my life. You're right, it's not home anymore," Susan said. She tiptoed up and kissed him on the chin and then went into the living room to watch Phillip and Greg annihilate each other.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Four hours later House was alone in the living room watching television with the sound turned down low. Phillip had crashed during the movie they were watching after dinner. David had woke him and sent him to bed. Susan and David stayed up with House about an hour longer before he sent them away telling them that they were getting on his nerves. It was a ruse of course; he knew they, well at least David, was dying to get in Susan's pants, but they didn't want to be rude by leaving him alone. They'd actually shown considerable restraint in his opinion. If he were in David's shoes, he'd have ravaged his woman the night before – even risking waking the others in the same room. Of course Cuddy would never have gone for that, he wondered about Dominique. Not that he thought they would ever truly be together to find out. He flipped the channel; this was something he hadn't seen before. He chuckled to himself; these people were prepping for an apocalypse. He recalled his patient who had hidden all those weapons in his home and the resulting bet he had with Wilson. Wilson had actually found his dad's service pistol, but House had managed to fool him into believing it was a stage prop. Well, it takes all kinds. He flipped the channel.

MDMDMDMD

David shut the door behind them and pulled Susan to him. He kissed her hard and pushed/walked her backwards toward the bed. _OK_, Susan thought to herself, _He needs to play the dominance card._ She remembered the first time he'd been a little rougher with her. It was on their wedding night after several months of abstinence. After their one night of indiscretion, he'd agreed to waiting until they were married. It was hard on him and she made it even harder when she tried to wait until Greg was out of prison to get married. She'd wanted him to be at their wedding, but it wasn't looking likely at that point that he would be out any time soon. So, she'd agreed to go ahead and get married and that night, David had practically ravaged her. Still though, while it wasn't particularly enjoyable, it was nothing compared to what she had gone through with Jeff. Even being a little rough, David had made sure her body was ready for him. Jeff never had been that considerate and so had put her in a vicious cycle of discomfort, dread of discomfort, leading to more discomfort. David wasn't like that and throughout the night had made it up to her several times. She decided then that she could handle the occasional animal-like need of possession if he made up for it like that afterwards. As long as he didn't hurt her, she could play a little rough once and a while. Since that time he hadn't been aggressive like that, so now Susan wondered if every time he was away on a trip if when he came back he would feel the need to 'claim his woman'. It probably hadn't helped that they'd had a disagreement earlier in the day. Maybe this was the combined result of the two events. Whatever the cause she chose not to resist, knowing and trusting that he wouldn't hurt her.

By the time David got Susan in the bedroom where they could be alone and not be interrupted, he was deep in a fever of desire. He needed his woman and he needed her now. He'd pushed his arousal away all night last night and all day today. Even while they had their disagreement, he'd wanted to take her right then but had held off knowing that it would have made things worse. This was his woman. He loved her so much. He kissed her and wrapped himself around her as he took her to his bed. His eyes full of lust, he looked her up and down and pulled off the lower half of her clothes. He didn't even take off all his clothes before he claimed her as his own. His pants around his knees, he took her fast and hard and when he exploded, he landed on top of her with his head buried in her neck.

Susan laid there for a moment staring over his shoulder at the ceiling. She decided she needed to say something. She wouldn't have considered saying anything to Jeff for fear of his reaction, but David wasn't Jeff. She took a deep breath and said, "Now that that's over, can we start over with something that is mutually beneficial?"

"I'm sorry," David said into her neck. "I don't know what came over me. That's not who I am. I don't want to hurt you."

"You didn't hurt me, but it wasn't exactly enjoyable either," Susan said not believing she was hearing herself say it. Maybe being a little bit selfish now and again wouldn't be a bad thing. "How about we both get the rest of the way undressed and begin again?"

"OK," David answered as he lifted himself off of her.

The rest of the night was a study in romance and mutual satisfaction. David made love to her twice through the night waking her up the second time with his gentle caresses and kisses.

The next morning David awoke to find Susan staring at him. He smiled, "Good morning."

She smiled back, "I'm going to take a shower." She started to get up, then paused and turned back around, "You're invited if you want." She stood up and walked across the room.

David watched her naked pregnant form walk to the bathroom and didn't hesitate to follow her to the shower.

MDMDMDMDMD

Phillip walked downstairs to find House putting on his coat. "You're leaving?"

"The street was cleared during the night," he answered.

"That doesn't mean you have to leave," Phillip said wishing for another round or two of video games.

"I'll be back again," House replied. "I left a note for your parents – don't read it."

"OK," Phillip said. House walked out the door and closed it behind him.

Phillip walked over to the coffee table and picked up the note. He heard a knock on the window and saw House looking in, "I said don't read it." Phillip put the note down and headed upstairs to shower and get dressed.

MDMDMDMD

House smirked to himself as he turned to walk to his car. A couple more years and Phillip was going to be a real handful. He looked forward to watching Susan deal with teenage boy syndrome, though he'd heard that teenage girls were much more difficult to handle and he could believe that as much as Susan's emotional attitude was fluctuating at the moment with the pregnancy.

He needed to head to the hospital. It was the weekend, but he'd been out for a few days and needed to check on things. He had a couple of errands to run first. He started up his car and carefully backed out into the street. As he pulled out, his thoughts went to Chase. He'd give him the weekend, but Monday he would do as Susan suggested and go to Chase's apartment to corner him and find out when he was coming back. The team needed him and as much as Chase was trying to avoid it, he needed the team.

MDMDMDMDMD

David stepped out of the shower ahead of Susan giving her a few more moments under the hot water before she got out. He enjoyed their showers together and Susan particularly enjoyed him washing her hair. If he had any regrets about their bathroom, it was that their shower was too small for them to get too creative without risking injury. After this weekend, he was thinking more and more about selling this house and moving into another one. He'd love to have a double shower as he could imagine all kinds of activities they could enjoy. He'd never liked that that the house was 100% electric and that feeling was even more enhanced now. Besides, Susan should have the opportunity to decorate her house the way she wanted.

He heard the water shut off. He finished drying off and went over to Susan's side of the bed and found her bottle of lotion. He stretched across the bed and waited for her to come out. Susan exited the bathroom wrapped in her robe and was busily drying her hair not paying any attention to her surroundings, "Did you look to see if the street was clear? I thought I heard a snow plow go by last night."

"It did," David answered.

Susan bent over and put the towel behind her head to wrap her hair, "I was thinking that you should take me in to work this morning and then when you pick me up we could go shopping…." Susan stood back upright and noticed her husband lying across the bed in his birthday suit holding her bottle of lotion in an enticing manner. "…or we could wait a couple of hours…" The bathrobe dropped to the floor around her feet.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

House walked into PPTH, cane in one hand and a sack in the other and headed to the elevator. Wilson's arm shot through the door to hold it open just as House walked up to let him inside, "How've you been?" he asked. "I tried to call you several times, but couldn't get through; and then my phone died."

"Electricity came back on yesterday," House said. "Phones too."

"I left my charger here at work," Wilson explained. "I'm glad to see you're OK."

House nodded his acknowledgement.

"So how have you spent the last few days? Playing piano next to the fireplace?"

"Some, and a few games of chess and poker," House replied

"You can't play those by yourself," Wilson said.

"Never said I was alone," House said walking out of the elevator. Wilson followed.

"Really? Hooker get trapped with you?"

House stopped and turned to look at Wilson, "No," he said emphatically.

Wilson held his hands up in defense, "Sorry."

House started walking and Wilson caught up with him, "So, are you going to tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"Who you were with for the last few days," Wilson.

"No," House said.

"Why not?"

"Because it bothers you," House said.

House turned the corner in the hallway. "Where are we going?" Wilson asked.

"I'm going to the lab; I don't know where you are going," House said. He walked in the lab leaving Wilson behind. Wilson turned and went to his office leaving House to harass the lab techs on his own.

"Where's Jason?" House asked.

Jason came around the corner having heard House bellow his name. "Yes, Dr. House?"

"Team meeting in an hour," House said. "Don't be late."

"Yes sir," Jason said. He turned at went back to what he was doing with a smile on his face. That was as good a 'well done' that he would ever hear from Dr. House.

House walked through the lab to Susan's office. She hadn't arrived yet, but he knew that David would be bringing her in shortly. He set the sack he was carrying on her chair and then left.

MDMDMDMD

Susan walked in the living room to find Phillip playing a video game. "Uncle Greg left already, he left a note for you."

"You didn't read it?" Susan asked.

"No, he told me not to," Phillip answered not taking his eyes off of the game.

"Really?" Susan asked.

Phillip glanced up at her, "Really….I started to, but he caught me."

Susan reached down for the note. When she unfolded it, two scripts fell out. House changed the dosage on one of Phillip's medications and prescribed a different vitamin than what he had been on. _'Need to increase Phillip's protein intake – add some red meat to his diet. I'll notify his nutritionist and you can go from there.'_

David came up behind Susan, "What's that?"

"A note from Greg; and a couple of scripts," Susan answered. Suddenly she went pale and nearly dropped the note.

"What?" David asked.

Susan handed the note back to David, "I think moving is a good idea after all. Read the last line."

David looked down at the note, _'Don't bother getting a baby monitor; you can hear through the walls and __vents__ quite well.' _David contemplated for a moment and then folded the note and put it in his pocket and looked over at his son who was busy killing an alien. "Phillip? We need to have a talk."

"What?" Phillip asked.

"Let's go to your room," David said. "Susan, would you go to our room please?"

Phillip saved his place and turned off the game system. He followed his dad upstairs. When they got upstairs, David looked around on the floor next to the wall and found the vent covered by a pillow. "I've always thought it interesting that when you come downstairs in the night to ask us something that you manage to time things so well."

"What are you talking about?" Phillip said.

"You can hear us in our room can't you?" he said looking down through the return vent. It was a straight shot looking down into their room to their bed. He could see Susan looking up through the vent.

"Sometimes," Phillip said. "I cover it with a pillow."

"Do you ever watch?" David asked amazed that he had never noticed this issue before.

"No," Phillip said.

"Phillip," David said again.

"_Honestly_ I don't," Phillip said. "I don't want to see _that_."

"Why haven't you said something?" David asked.

"I don't know. I just cover the vent with a pillow and go to sleep," Phillip said.

"Do you ever listen to our private conversations?" David asked. Phillip looked down at his feet which answered David's question. "You're sleeping in Laura's room for the time being."

"I don't want to sleep in a girl's room!" Phillip said.

"You will until I get these vents repaired," David said, "then you can come back in here. Son, when Susan and I are having a private conversation, it's private. Just because you can listen, doesn't mean that you should."

"Yes sir," Phillip said.

Susan listened to the conversation going on over her head. How could she have not noticed this problem before? She should have noticed that she could hear him when his friends were over and up in their room, but then she did remember yelling upstairs telling them to turn down his video game. She'd thought it was just turned up loud, not that she was getting a front row audio seat. She wondered how much Phillip had heard. Hopefully he fell asleep rather quickly most of the time and fortunately she and David were not loud in general. She thought about Greg hearing them last night. He would, of course, find the whole thing amusing which would be a huge source of embarrassment for her, but she'd deal. She was grateful to him that he told them of the problem before Phillip's curiosity got the best of him and he did start watching. Susan sat down on the bed as she was getting tired of standing.

"You OK down there?" she heard from above only accentuating the issue.

"I'm fine," she said looking up. "I need to get into work."

"We'll leave in about 10 minutes. Phillip, get ready, you're coming with."

Susan went into her bathroom and got her coat which had finally dried and slipped it on. David came downstairs to get his coat as well. He glanced at her coat, but didn't say anything.

"I'll get another one this weekend; I promise," Susan said.

David nodded, "and a couple of outfits," he added coming over to her. He rubbed his hand against her cheek.

"And a couple of outfits," she acknowledged. "There are a couple of things I need to tell you about the last few days," Susan said.

"I know," David said.

"How do you know?" Susan said.

"I can read the signs. You're a terrible poker player," David said. "You've been keeping a lot of things from me recently."

"More like, just keeping things to myself," Susan said.

David lifted her chin and gently kissed her lips, "I love you," he said. "We'll talk more when we can talk in private," he said looking up.

Phillip was looking down through the vent, "Are you guys done kissing yet? I'm ready to go."

MDMDMDMDMD

Susan walked through her office from the hallway to the lab, "Hi guys," she said.

"Susan! So good to see you," one of the techs said. "Did you enjoy the last few days of enforced vacation?"

"Actually, it _was_ nice," said Susan honestly. She'd enjoyed her days with her brother. She felt like it was time well spent getting to know each other better. As he had in the past before his incarceration, he had exposed and brought to the surface a part of herself that she had pushed into the background. She wasn't alone and she didn't have to do everything herself anymore. He was a good man and she could only hope she was as good for him as he was for her. She walked back to her office and looked in the sack that was sitting on her chair. She pulled out a lined leather coat with matching gloves and scarf. She slipped it on. It was a perfect fit and a style to her liking.

Jason walked in her office and handed her some paperwork, "Nice coat," he said. Noting from the tag attached to the sleeve that it was brand new, "You must have spent a pretty penny on that one."

"It's a gift," Susan said.

"Well, whoever bought it obviously cares a lot about you," he observed and then looked over at the couch in her office. "Same person that bought you the couch?"

"I expect so," Susan said.

"I guess he's not as misanthropic as most people believe."

"No, he's not. But don't let that get around," Susan said.

Jason smiled, "his secret is safe with me."

MDMDMDMD

David and Phillip walked down the hall from the elevator. As they passed House's conference room, David motioned for Phillip to go inside. David went to the next door and went in House's office. House was sitting at his desk reading, "You left before I got a chance to thank you." House nodded and stood up. "You're a good brother to her, and I thank God every day that she came looking for you. She's the best thing that has ever happened to me."

House came around the desk and stood in front of David, "Kinda figured that out." David and House looked at each other eye to eye and then House held out his hand. The significance was not lost on David as he lifted his hand to meet House's. As they shook hands, both men felt a connection of mutual respect. They were in fact brothers of a sort and would forever be tied through their mutual affection of the woman they both loved in their own way.

House watched David walk away. Being snowed in this past week had created an interesting view into Susan's new life. He'd enjoyed his time with her before David and Phillip got home and it was entertaining to watch the family dynamics through the conflict and resolution. He didn't have a family of his own and it was highly likely that he never would nor would he want to, but it might be interesting to drop in on Susan's once and a while – especially when there was food involved. Family, he decided, could be interesting in small doses.


End file.
